Kingdom Hearts, Shadow's Story
by Night-the-Dragon
Summary: Basically the first KH game, but from the POV of my first ever OC, Shadow. No relationships in this, unfortunately. Sorry about that, folks! Also, credit for the original script goes to Asch The Hated on GameFaqs, seeing as they were the ones who posted it for other people to use in the first place.
1. Chapter 1

A/N: Okay, here's something I posted on DA, but I made some changes to it to accommodate for KH3D. I hope you guys like this! It's basically KH1's storyline, but from Shadow's POV. Kurai is Shadow's best friend, just like Riku is for Sora, but Kurai is close to Riku rather than Sora. It'll make sense eventually. Just read on!

Disclaimer: I own nothing but Shadow and Kurai.

Shadow is in the Heart of All Denizens of Light…

"Hey, Shadow, Kurai! We're going to get ready soon, so get over here!"

I sighed, as did my friend next to me, and we left from trying to fish for a meal to join our friends, Sora, Riku, and Kairi.

"What is it?" I grumbled, and added, "I was trying to catch a bite to eat…"

"Well, like I just said, we're getting ready to leave the islands soon, so we have to get some supplies," Sora told us.

He looked down at us, and we sighed again. Kurai and I were the short ones out of the five of us, seeing as we're the only diamond-armored dragon, and our kind tends to be…small. I couldn't stay mad at him, though. Our hearts, just like Riku's and Kairi's, are all intertwined, but mine with Sora's was much deeper, and I couldn't figure out why. It seemed that way with Kurai and Riku, too. We just go with it, though, and try not to doubt ourselves. They are all so much younger than us, though, and we're at least a couple of centuries old, but then again, that's pretty young for our kind. We felt like we were guided here after our world was destroyed by strange creatures that I didn't even have a name for, so that alone was enough for us to feel like I truly belonged here on the island, or at least anywhere my friends were.

"All right, where do we start?" I asked, looking at them with a pleasant smile, but that just showed my front set of fangs, so I closed my mouth.

"Well, since you were about to catch some fish, why don't you start there, and catch ten fish, two for each of us, plus one for each of you to eat when you're done?" Kairi suggested, and we nodded.

We left over to the most fish-filled part of the ocean nearest the island, and sat down to start fishing. We watched them, and when one was close enough, we hooked my claws into it, yanked up, and held a fish in my hands. I repeated this five more times while Kurai caught six others, and once finished, Kurai grabbed the bucket that Riku had provided us with before we started, and dumped all but two in there. We enjoyed those for ourselves, so as to provide us with some energy for the day's events. Then again, we've been preparing this raft to sail away from the islands on for quite a while now, and we're going to leave tomorrow, but I had a strange feeling about it. I shrugged it off as just my nerves acting up, and polished off my fish, burying the bones when done.

"Hey, I got the fish!" I yelled to Sora, and joined him while Kurai went off to find Riku.

"Great! Now we've got some food for the trip," he told me, and added, "Hey, want to take a quick break? I'm kinda tired."

"Yeah, sure. We'll get back to it once we're refreshed," I laughed. He laughed with me, and I curled up next to him as we went to sleep from the sound of the waves.

I awoke to the sound of my name being called, but when I opened my eyes, I was all alone with Sora, and we weren't on the island. I leapt to my feet, all of my senses screaming at me that there was danger nearby. I couldn't tell where it was coming from, though.

"We're are we?" I asked Sora.

"I…don't know," he replied, and he looked as amazed as I was. This place looked like a place of complete darkness, with the exception of the light from the platform we were standing on; which looked like a glass picture. For some odd reason, the pattern looked like a young woman with black hair, and a pale face. Anyway, that was the only illumination in the area. Suddenly a voice, inaudible, spoke to us in our minds, "Choose what you will, and that power shall be yours, but you must sacrifice one as well…"

When the voice finished speaking, we watched in shock as three short, wide pillars rose from the platform. There was a different item on each one: a sword, a shield, and a staff. Obviously the sword meant power, the shield meant defense, and the staff represented magic.

"Shadow, which one do I choose?" Sora wondered aloud to me. I pondered that for a moment, and realized which one to take, and which one to give away.

"Take the shield, and give up the sword," I urged him, and he stepped forward as I jumped onto his shoulder.

He grabbed the shield from the pillar, and the voice asked, "The power of the guardian. The kindness to aid friends. A shield to repel all. Is this the power you seek?"

"Yes," Sora responded nervously. I urged him over to the sword, where the voice asked, "The power of the warrior. Invincible courage. A sword of terrible destruction. You give up this power?"

"Yes," Sora answered again.

"You've chosen the power of the guardian. You've given up the power of the warrior. Is this the form you choose?" the voice asked once more.

"Yes," we answered in unison. This time, the two remaining pillars sank into the platform, as though darkness was sucking them in. There was a sudden, bright light, and we were on another platform, this one featuring a young woman with sandy blonde hair, and looked more like a maid than anything else.

"You've gained the power to fight," the voice told us, and Sora lashed out with the shield. "All right! You've got it. Use this power to protect others." Out of nowhere, the same creatures that had destroyed my home appeared. "There will be times you have to fight. Keep your light burning strong, both of you." We fought the creatures, which looked like little shadows, until they were gone. Once they were gone, a dark void appeared and we were drawn into it, ending up on a multi-colored platform that had a door. We approached the door and tried to open it, but it wouldn't budge.

"Wonder why we can't open it…" I murmured. A treasure chest appeared, and we opened it. Once open, the door opened, and light poured out. We entered, and ended up on a small island where our friends, Tidus, Wakka, and Selphie, were waiting.

"Hold on," the voice told us. "The door won't open just yet. First, tell me more about yourselves."

We spoke to Tidus, who asked us, "What are you afraid of?"

"Getting old," Sora answered.

"Gettin' old? Is that really so scary?" Tidus replied, and we spoke to Wakka next.

"What do you want out of life?" Wakka asked.

"To see rare sights," we answered in unison.

"To see rare sights, huh?" Wakka repeated, and we finally spoke to Selphie.

"What's most important to you?" she asked us.

"Being number one," Sora answered.

"Is being number one such a big deal?" she replied.

"You're afraid of getting old. You want to see rare sights. You want to be number one. Your adventure begins at dawn. As long as the sun is shining, your journey should be a pleasant one," the voice told us, and we nodded determinedly. "The day you open the door is both far off and very near." Suddenly, we were on another platform, where several more of the shadowy creatures appeared. We managed to fight them off with the shield and my claws and fangs. Once finished, a light glowed nearby, revealing stairs to the next area. We made our way up, and the voice addressed us once more. "The closer you get to light, the greater your shadow becomes." Sora and my shadows started to come out from beneath us, and merged into one being which began to grow into a giant shadowy monster. "But don't be afraid," the voice told us. "And don't forget…"

We tried to flee from the beast, but almost fell over the edge of the platform when we tried. We had no choice but to fight off the dark monster. We fought it off as best as we could, Sora using the shield, and I using my fangs and claws. Once it was defeated, a black circle appeared underneath us.

"But don't be afraid," the voice repeated to us. "You both hold the mightiest weapons of all." As it spoke to us, we became engulfed in the circle. "So don't forget: You are the ones who will open the door." Everything went dark, and we woke up on the beach on Destiny Islands. I sat up in alarm, and noticed Kairi standing over Sora. When he opened his eyes, he saw her.

"Whoa!" he gasped, and sat up in shock. She giggled with amusement. "Gimme a break, Kairi."

"Sora, Shadow, you lazy bums," she teased. "I knew that I'd find you both snoozing down here."

"No! This huge, black THING swallowed us up!" Sora protested. "We couldn't breathe, we couldn't-Ow!" I clutched my head in sudden pain as Sora did the same.

"Are you two still dreaming?" Kairi teased again.

"It wasn't a dream!" I argued. "Or was it? We don't know. What was that place? So bizarre…"

"Yeah, sure," she replied doubtfully.

"Say, Kairi, what was your hometown like? You know, where you grew up," Sora asked suddenly.

"I've told you both before, I don't remember," she reminded us.

"Nothing at all?" I asked.

"Nothing," she repeated.

"You ever want to go back?" Sora asked her.

"Well, I'm happy here," she told him.

"Really…" Sora murmured.

"But you know…I wouldn't mind going to see it," she added.

"We'd like to see it, too," I chimed in. "Along with any other worlds out there! We want to see 'em all!"

"So what're we waiting for?" Kairi replied eagerly.

"Hey, aren't you guys forgetting about us?" Riku's voice said as he and Kurai joined us with a log under Riku's arm.

"So I guess we're the only ones working on the raft." Kurai said, and Riku tossed the log to Sora, but it fell on Sora's arms, making him fall, and then he rounded on Kairi. "And you're just as lazy as they are!"

"So you noticed," Kairi replied calmly. "Okay, we'll finish it together. I'll race you!"

"Huh?" Sora said in confusion.

"What, are you kidding?" Riku teased.

"Ready, go!" Kairi cried out, and they raced along the beach. Later, after their little race, Sora and I approached Kairi to help out. "So, can you gather the rest of the supplies? Sora, Shadow, are you listening to me?" she chastised.

"Yeah, we heard you," Sora replied, and I snickered. She told us what we needed to get, and we collected the items for the raft. Once finished, we brought them back to Kairi.

"Thanks, guys!" she praised, and asked, "Tired? Want to call it a day?"

"Yeah, let's go home," I agreed.

"Okay. It is getting late. We'll finish up tomorrow," she told us. Later, at sunset, we all five met up near the paopu fruit tree.

"So, Kairi's home is out there somewhere, right?" Sora wondered aloud.

"Could be. We'll never know by staying here," Riku replied.

"But how far could a raft take us?" I asked.

"Who knows?" Kurai answered. "If we have to, we'll think of something else."

"So, suppose you get to another world. What would you do there?" Kairi asked them.

"Well, we haven't really thought about it," they replied. "It's just…we've always wondered why we're here on this island. If there are any other worlds out there, why did we end up on this one? And suppose there are other worlds out there…Then ours is just a little piece of something much greater. So we could have just as easily ended up somewhere else, right?"

"I don't know," Sora murmured, and he laid back on a branch and I curled up on the same branch.

"That's why we need to go out there and find out. Just sitting here won't change a thing. It's the same old stuff. So let's go," Riku said, and he reminded me of myself when I was younger; eager to get out and explore.

"You've been thinking a lot lately, haven't you?" Kairi guessed.

"Thanks to you. If you hadn't come here, I probably never would've thought of any of this. Kairi, thanks," he told her.

"You're welcome," she replied casually. Once the sun had set, we started to head back to the house. Kairi went ahead of us as Riku and Kurai hung back for a moment.

"Sora," Riku said, and tossed a paopu fruit to him. Kurai and I watched the next exchange with interest. "You wanted one, didn't you?"

"A paopu fruit…" Sora murmured.

"If two people share one, their destinies become intertwined," Riku told us. "They'll remain a part of each other's lives no matter what. C'mon, I know you want to try it."

"What are you talking-" Sora started, but Riku and Kurai laughed while I snickered. Sora threw the paopu fruit away behind him and we chased after him. I chuckled to myself at the thought of Sora in love at his age. I couldn't imagine it, but I knew he liked her a lot.


	2. Chapter 2

A/N: Yay for chapter 2! Actually, it won't take me too long to edit the KH1 story, but KH 358/2 Days will take me a while. Anyhoo, enjoy~

Disclaimer: I own nothing but Shadow and Kurai.

The Adventure is to Begin, if Not for This…

The next day, once we had all met up, Sora and Riku decided to race against each other.

"You guys at it again?" I teased.

"I'll be the judge," Kairi offered. "The usual rules apply: Take any route you want…First one to tag that tree and make it back here wins."

"If I win, I'm captain!" Sora declared. "And if you win…"

"I get to share the paopu with Kairi," Riku replied.

"Huh?" Sora yelped, taken aback.

"Deal? The winner gets to share a paopu with Kairi," Riku said.

"Wha…Wait a minute…" Sora tried to protest.

"Okay," Kairi said. "On my count: One, two…" The pair raced as fast as they could, and I chuckled, knowing Sora would be desperate to win. After the race was over, Sora and I spoke to Kairi.

"Today we collect provisions for our trip!" she declared. "Shadow and Kurai already got the fish, which really helps. Let's see, Sora, Shadow, you're now looking for…Two Seagull Eggs. Three Mushrooms. Three Coconuts. And fill this up with Drinking Water. But not from the ocean!" She handed me a bottle. "Bring everything back here. If you need help, just ask."

We left to get the provisions, and once we had everything except the mushrooms, we left to the Secret Place to collect them. While inside, a man in a hood appeared behind us. I whipped around, snarling, when he spoke.

"I've come to see the door to this world," he said. I bristled furiously; I had a very bad feeling about this guy, even though I didn't know him. Sora watched the man warily.

"Huh?" Sora said, confused.

"This world has been connected," the man told us.

"Wh-what are you talking about?" my friend stammered.

"Tied to the darkness…soon to be completely eclipsed," the man continued.

"Well, whoever you are, stop freaking us out like this," I snapped, and then demanded, "Wait a sec…where did you come from?"

"You do not yet know what lies beyond the door," the man replied.

"So, you're from another world!" Sora guessed.

"There is so very much to learn," the man said. "You both understand so little."

"Oh, yeah? Well, you'll see. We're gonna get out and learn what's out there!" Sora declared.

"A meaningless effort," he replied. "One who knows nothing can understand nothing."

We saw the door the man spoke of, but when he vanished, the door did, too. We had all of the provisions, so we went and collected the fish we had put in a bucket the day before. Once we had met up with Kairi, she thanked us and asked, "Tired? Want to call it a day?"

"Yeah, let's go home," I agreed.

"Okay, tomorrow's the big day. We should rest up!" Kairi said eagerly. Later, at sunset, the three of us, Sora, Kairi, and I were sitting at the dock, talking. After a pause, Kairi said, "You know, Riku and Kurai have changed."

"What do you mean?" Sora asked.

"Well…" she murmured, trailing off.

"You okay?" I asked.

"Sora, Shadow, let's take the raft and go—just the three of us!" she said out of nowhere.

"Huh?" Sora said, confused, and I looked at her, surprised.

"Just kidding," she giggled.

"What's gotten into you? You're the one that's changed, Kairi," Sora pointed out, and I nodded in agreement.

"Maybe…You know, I was a little afraid at first, but now I'm ready," she told us. "No matter where I go or what I see, I know I can always come back here. Right?"

"Yeah, of course!" I assured her.

"That's good. Sora, Shadow, don't ever change," she said suddenly.

"Huh?" Sora said, bewildered by her sudden statements. I cocked my head to the side, confused by this as well; it wasn't like Kairi to say things like this.

"I just can't wait. Once we set sail, it'll be great," she said eagerly. After the sun had set, we went to our homes. That night, Sora and I lay in bed, staring at a model ship he had built hanging from the ceiling, thinking about what Kairi had said earlier: I can't wait. Once we set sail, it'll be great.

Suddenly, I jerked my head up as Sora looked outside and gasped. There was a storm at the islands! I whimpered as Sora said, "A storm? Oh, no, the raft!" We rode Sora's boat out to the island where we saw Riku and Kairi's boats.

"Riku's boat. And Kairi's!" I told Sora, and I screeched in horror when I looked at the sky; it was dark, but there was a black sphere in the sky. Out of nowhere, though, several of the small shadowy creatures from that dream appeared. We had no choice but to try and evade them and find Riku and Kurai. Those two were almost always together, so it shouldn't be too hard.

"Where's Kairi? I thought she was with you!" Sora called to Riku and Kurai over the howling wind.

"The door has opened…" they said ominously.

"What?" I yelped in bewilderment.

"The door has opened, Sora and Shadow! Now we can go to the outside world!" the two of them continued on, as though we hadn't said anything.

"What are you talking about? We've gotta find Kairi!" Sora yelled over the wind again.

"Kairi's coming with us!" Riku yelled. "Once we step through, we might not be able to come back. We may never see our parents again. There's no turning back. But this may be our only chance. We can't let fear stop us! We're not afraid of the darkness!"

"Riku! Kurai!" we shouted desperately. The black shadowy circles engulfed Sora, Riku, Kurai, and me when Riku and Kurai held out their hands to help us. Suddenly, there was a blinding light, and Sora and I were free. Sora was suddenly holding a giant…key, and my claws were glowing in response. We had no time to question it, so we took off to the Secret Place to search for Kairi. Once inside, we saw Kairi, but she was in bad shape.

"Kairi!" Sora cried out.

"Sora…Shadow…" Suddenly, the door behind Kairi opened up, and black wind blasted out at us. Kairi was blown towards Sora, but when he tried to catch her, she disappeared through us. When Kairi vanished, however, we were blown out of the Secret Place as well. We slammed into the ground, and immediately got to our feet. The island was somehow in midair, and that same giant black monster from the dream was standing before us. We fought it, and fought hard. Once beaten, everything, including us, was sucked into the black sphere. What we felt was nothing, because we passed out.

A/N: R&R, peeps! I hope you like this so far!


	3. Chapter 3

A/N: Chapter 3! It's here, it's here! *bounces in place* Enjoy~

Disclaimer: I own nothing but Shadow and Kurai.

Where…Are We?

When I came to, I knew there was something wrong. Instead of sand, there was a brick road for the ground. I looked, and saw a dog licking Sora's face to wake him up.

"What a dream…" he mumbled as he started to come to. Suddenly, the dog jumped on Sora, startling him wide awake. "This isn't a dream!" He jumped to his feet, and I darted over to him.

"Where are we?" I wondered aloud. "Oh, boy."

"Do you know where we are?" Sora asked the dog, but instead, the dog ran off. "Hey…" We walked out of the alley we were in, and discovered an entire town before us.

"This is totally weird…" I murmured to Sora. "Wait a sec, we're in another world!"

We looked at one another excitedly, and, after a quick walk around to check things out, we made our way into a shop. Inside, a man stood at the counter.

"Hey there, how can I…Aw, it's only a kid and his lizard," the man said, and I bristled furiously, snarling and flaring my wings open wide.

"I'm not a kid! And he's a dragon, not a lizard! And our names are Sora and Shadow!" Sora snapped, and I folded my wings again, as well as cutting off my snarls. I still bristled, though.

"Okay, okay, simmer down," the man told us. "So why the long faces, Sora and Shadow? You lost or somethin'?"

"No!" I snapped, and then said, "Well, maybe. Where are we?"

"Huh?" the man said, confused, and we proceeded to explain what had happened, and how we ended up in this town. The man then explained where we were, and what was happening.

"Traverse Town…" Sora murmured. "So, gramps, are we really in another world?" I snickered at that.

"Don't call me gramps! The name's Cid!" Cid snapped back. "Anyway…Not sure what you're talkin' about, but this sure ain't your island."

"Hmm…Guess we'd better start looking for Riku, Kurai, and Kairi, eh, Shadow?" Sora said, and I nodded agreement.

"Well, good luck with whatever it is you're doing," Cid told us. "If either of you ever run into trouble, you come to me. I'll look out for you." We prepared ourselves by buying some equipment, and then left outside. We left the First District for the Second District, and while in there, we watched a man collapse on the ground and die. His heart floated into the air, turning into one of the creatures from the island. Suddenly, several more of them appeared.

"It's those creatures from the island!" I yelped. We fought them off, and continued to search the three districts for our friends, but with no results. We wound up back in the First District, where we went back to the accessory shop and spoke to Cid again.

"Still haven't found 'em?" he asked, and we shook our heads. "Keep your chins up. Take another look around town." We took Cid's advice and went outside to search again when a voice called out to us.

"They'll come at you both out of nowhere," the man who spoke said.

"Who are you?" Sora asked warily, and I bristled, every fiber of my body warning me that this man was dangerous. The giant key flashed into Sora's hand, and my claws glowed in response.

"And they'll keep on coming at you, as long as you continue to wield the Keyblade and light," he continued, as if we hadn't spoken. "But why? Why would they choose a kid and lizard like you?" I snarled furiously at that statement.

"Hey, what's that supposed to mean?!" I snarled at him.

"Never mind. Now, let me see that Keyblade and light," the man ordered, and I held myself back from lunging at him.

"What? There's no way you're getting these!" Sora and I yelled at him.

"All right, then have it your way," he said, and he whipped out a Gunblade, and we fought. I clashed my claws against the man's blade, and shot a short burst of fire at him. Sora used the key to fight against him while he was busy blocking my fire. Once beaten, the man kneeled to the ground, still holding his Gunblade. Sora and I were exhausted, even though we had won.

"Now…you're…gonna…you're gonna…" Sora panted, and we both collapsed, passing out. When I woke up, everything looked fuzzy for a few seconds, but then things cleared up. I saw a strange woman speaking to Sora, who was still passed out next to me.

"Come on, lazy bums. Wake up," she ordered us, and I sat up. I stood up, and stretched for a moment, loosening up my muscles. Sora's eyes opened, and he looked at me, then the woman. "You okay?" she asked us.

"I guess…" Sora mumbled, and I nodded once.

"Those creatures that attacked you two are after the Keyblade and light," the woman told us. "But it's your hearts they really want, because you wield the Keyblade and light."

"I'm so glad you're okay, Kairi," Sora sighed, and I jerked my head back like I'd been slapped; I was shocked, because Sora KNOWS Kairi. He shouldn't have been confused.

"Kairi?" the woman repeated, confused as well. "Who are you talking about? I'm the great ninja Yuffie." Sora seemed to snap out of it then. She turned to the man who had attacked us and said, "I think you might've overdone it, Squall."

"That's Leon," he replied coldly.

"The Keyblade and light…Yeah, we had to get them away from you two to shake off those creatures," Yuffie told us. "It turns out that's how they were tracking you both."

"It was the only way to conceal your hearts from them," Leon explained. "But it won't work for long. Still hard to believe that you two of all people are the chosen ones." He picked up the Keyblade, but it vanished and then reappeared in Sora's hand; my claws glowed in response. "Well, I suppose beggars can't be choosers."

"Why don't you start making sense?! What's going on here?!" we demanded. They began to explain, and mentioned the word, "Heartless."

"Heartless?" I repeated, confused.

"The ones who attacked you, remember?" Yuffie reminded us.

"Those without hearts," Leon added. "The darkness in people's hearts—that's what attracts them. And there is darkness within every heart."

"Hey, have you ever heard of someone named Ansem?" Yuffie asked Sora and me. They then launched into an explanation of this man, Ansem, and then told us about the Keyblade and light.

"So…these are the keys?" we said, and Sora held up the Keyblade.

"Exactly!" Yuffie confirmed.

"The Heartless have great fear of the Keyblade and light," Leon told us. "That's why they'll keep coming after you no matter what."

"Well, we didn't ask for this," we said, my tone of voice sounding irritated.

"The Keyblade and light choose their masters," Yuffie informed us. "And they chose you two."

"So tough luck," Leon added coldly.

"How did all this happen? I remember being in our room…" Sora wondered. He was shocked, and I just sat there, stunned. Why was this happening to me, AGAIN? This time was in a different way, but it still felt like déjà vu. "Wait a minute! What happened to our home? Our island? Riku! Kurai! Kairi!"

"You know what? I really don't know," Leon told us, and I spat; he didn't seem to care, either. "Sooner or later, the Heartless will find you. You'd best prepare yourselves."

"Prepare yourselves?" I repeated. "For what?"

"To fight for your lives. Are you ready?" he said.

"We're ready!" we said eagerly, and I smirked.

"Yuffie, let's go join Aerith," Leon told her. "She should be there by now with the other visitors."

"Leon!" she cried out. Suddenly, a Heartless appeared in the room.

"Yuffie, go!" Leon ordered her, and she ran, bursting out of the door. Leon readied his Gunblade, and Sora his Keyblade, while I bared my fangs and unsheathed my claws. They glowed brighter now, and we took off after the Heartless. "Sora, Shadow, let's go!" We jumped out the window the Heartless had jumped out of, and swiftly ran after it, fighting other Heartless along the way. "Don't bother with the small fry. Find the leader! Let's go!" Leon ordered us, and we chased after the Heartless, fighting our way into the Third District. Suddenly, while in the Third District, two people, a duck and a knight, fell from what appeared to be out of nowhere, but turned out to be a balcony above us.

"The key and light!" they cried out after their dizziness had cleared. They had no time to explain, however, as several Heartless swarmed around us. The four of us fought them off, but once they were gone, we couldn't even take a breather, for a giant Heartless with thick-looking armor appeared before us. We fought it as a team, and the duck used his magic with great skill, while the knight used his shield as great strength. I shot a jet of fire from my jaws, and Sora used the Keyblade to help strike down the Heartless. Once defeated, a large heart was released from its fading body. Sora and I turned to face the pair that had crashed onto us.

"So, you were looking for us?" I asked them.

"Uh huh," they said together.

"They, too, have been seeking the wielders of the Keyblade and light," Leon explained as he joined us.

"Hey, why don't you two come with us?" the knight offered Sora and me. "We can go to other worlds on our vessel."

"I wonder if we could find Riku, Kurai, and Kairi…" Sora murmured, looking unhappy. I sighed heavily.

"Of course," the duck told us.

"Are you sure?" the knight asked him.

"Who knows?" the duck replied. "But we need them to come with us to help us find the king."

"Sora, Shadow, go with them," Leon advised. "Especially if you want to find your friends."

"Yeah, we guess," we sighed, still upset.

"But you can't come along looking like that," the duck told us. "Understand? No frowning. No sad face. Okay?"

"Yeah, ya gotta look funny, like us!" the knight laughed, leaning his face towards the duck's. The duck pushed his face away irritably.

"This boat runs on happy faces," the duck added.

"Happy?" I repeated, looking at them doubtfully from Sora's shoulder. Sora gave them a big smile, and I started cracking up. I started laughing so hard, I could barely breathe. The duck and knight laughed with me. Once I sobered up, they spoke.

"That's one funny face!" the knight laughed.

"Okay, why not? We'll go with you guys," we said.

"Donald Duck," the duck introduced himself, and held out his hand.

"Name's Goofy," the knight added, and put his hand on top of Donald's.

"We're Sora and Shadow," Sora and I replied, and each placed a hand on top of theirs.

"All for one, one for all," Goofy declared. Later, back in the First District, Leon, Yuffie, and a woman named Aerith met up with us.

"Make sure you're prepared for the journey ahead of you," Leon cautioned us. "We don't know how far the Heartless have spread."

"Check out the shops here," Yuffie suggested. "They've got some pretty neat stuff!"

"This is from all of us," Aerith added, and gave us some Munny for spending on supplies. "Spend it as you see fit. And this is from Leon." She then gave us an elixir.

"Good luck!" Yuffie told us.

"I hope you find your friends," Aerith added.

"Look out for each other," Leon advised. "Keep your spirits up." Before we left, though, Donald gave Sora fire magic, so now he could use magic, too. Goofy then gave us each the Dodge Roll ability, and now we could dodge attacks with ease. We left for their ship, and once on board, Sora and I looked at each other, and I could see the feelings that went through him: worry, excitement, and a slight bit of panic. I knew he was worried about our friends, excited for this journey, and I knew the panic was because he didn't know how he had gotten the Keyblade. I didn't think I would ever gain my light powers back, but I guess fate had other ideas.


	4. Chapter 4

A/N: Chapter 4 be here now! I hope you guys are liking this so far…

Disclaimer: I own nothing but Shadow and Kurai.

Off We Go, But Where To, Though? Such A Strange Place…

The place we ended up landing in was called Wonderland, and when we landed, Goofy was sleeping, but bolted awake when he fell upon our landing. We suddenly saw a white rabbit run past us, speaking to himself in a panic.

"Oh, my fur and whiskers!" he exclaimed as he ran past. "I'm late, I'm late, I'm late! Oh dear, oh, dear, oh dear! I'm here, I should be there! I'm late, I'm late, I'm late! The queen, she'll have my head for sure!" We followed the rabbit into the next room, where everything was much smaller than we were. The white rabbit wasn't there, but we saw a little door with a large doorknob on it.

"How did he get so small?" Sora wondered.

"No, you're simply too big," the doorknob said, and I jumped, startled by the fact that it could talk. It seemed I wasn't alone with that thought, seeing as the others looked at it in shock as well.

"It talks!" Donald gasped.

"Must you be so loud?" the doorknob complained. "You woke me up."

"Good morning," Goofy replied.

"Good night! I need a bit more sleep," it grumbled.

"Wait, what do we have to do to grow small?" I asked.

"Why don't you try the bottle…over there?" the doorknob suggested with a yawn, and then went back to sleep. The table in the room rose up, revealing a small bottle. We each drank a sip from the bottle, and shrunk down to the size of mice, with me being the exception. I was already about a fourth of Sora's size normally, so the bottle made me feel even smaller, even though I was still the same in comparison to Sora. We made our way through another door, where it looked like a courtroom, only it was walls made from hedges and the floor was grassy. I jumped off of Sora's shoulder, relishing the feeling of the grass underneath my feet. Inside the courtroom, a girl stood on trial, and there was a large woman in red at the place the judge would be. The guards in the place seemed to be made from cards, which was odd. The white rabbit ran to his position, and quickly blew on a trumpet.

"Court is now in session!" he announced.

"I'm on trial? But why?" the girl asked.

"Her Majesty, the Queen of Hearts, presiding!" the rabbit continued, as though the girl hadn't said anything.

"The girl is the culprit. There's no doubt about it. And the reason is…because I say so, that's why!" the Queen declared angrily.

"That is so unfair!" the girl protested.

"Well, have you anything to say in your defense?" the Queen demanded.

"Of course!" the girl replied. "I've done absolutely nothing wrong! You may be queen, but I'm afraid that doesn't give you the right to be so…so mean!"

"Silence! You dare defy me?" the Queen snapped. As we watched, I glanced at Sora, and I could tell what he was thinking: we needed to help that girl.

"Hey, guys, we should help her out," I told Donald and Goofy.

"Yeah, but the-" Donald started to say.

"We're outsiders, so wouldn't that be muddling?" Goofy wondered.

"'Meddling!'" Donald corrected.

"Oh, yeah," Goofy replied, remembering. "And that's against the rules."

"The court finds the defendant…guilty as charged!" the Queen suddenly declared, and we turned our attention back to the court that was in session. "For the crimes of assault and attempted theft of my heart…Off with her head!"

"No! No! Oh, please!" the girl cried out desperately.

"Hold it right there!" Sora yelled as we ran into the courtroom's center. We approached the Queen of Hearts.

"Who are you? How dare you interfere with my court?" she snapped at us angrily.

"Excuse us," I said. "But we know who the real culprit is!"

"Uh-huh. It's the Heartle-" Goofy started to say, but quickly covered his mouth.

"Anyway, she's not the one you're looking for," Sora continued.

"That's nonsense," the Queen scoffed. "Have you any proof?" One of the cards locked the girl in a cage. "Bring me the evidence of Alice's innocence! Fail and it's off with all of your heads! Gather as much or as little evidence as you please. Report back here once you're all ready." And with that, we departed to a lotus forest. Upon entering, a pink and purple striped cat with a big goofy grin on his face appeared.

"Who are you?" Donald asked him.

"Who, indeed? Poor Alice," the cat replied. "Soon to lose her head, and she's not guilty of a thing!"

"Hey, if you know who the culprit is, tell us!" I snapped.

"The Cheshire Cat has all the answers—but doesn't always tell," the cat replied smoothly. "The answer, the culprit, the cat all lie in darkness."

"Wait!" Sora tried to say, but the Cheshire Cat still vanished.

"They've already left the forest," he added, even though we couldn't see him. "I won't tell which exit. There are four pieces of evidence in all. Three are a cinch to find. The fourth is tricky. Big reward if you find them all."

"Should we trust him?" Donald asked us.

"To trust, or not to trust?" the Cheshire Cat replied. "I trust you'll decide!" Once we found all of the evidence to prove Alice's innocence, the Cheshire Cat reappeared. "Well, look what you've found. Nice going."

"Now we can save Alice!" Sora said eagerly.

"Don't be so sure!" the cat said, stopping him. "She may be innocent, but what about you?"

"What do you mean?" I demanded.

"I won't tell," the cat replied smoothly. "But I will give you something." And with that, he gave Sora and I the power for Blizzard magic. We then left for the Queen's court, where we stepped forward to provide our evidence.

"Now, show me what you have found," the Queen ordered us, and we presented our evidence. "Well, that's certainly a lot of evidence, but I'm still not impressed! Cards! Bring forth my evidence!" One of the cards brought a box with the Queen of Heart's evidence. "Hmm, checking all five would only be a waste of time. All right, then. Choose the one you wish to present. I'll decide who's guilty based on that evidence." I snapped my jaws at her.

"What?" Sora yelped in disbelief. "After all the trouble of collecting it?"

"You dare object?" the Queen retorted. "Then you will lose your head! Now, choose! One box!" Sora and I chose one of the five boxes, and the Queen asked us, "Are you certain? No second chances!"

"We're certain," I growled.

"Now we shall see who the real culprit is," she replied, and Sora opened the box to reveal a Heartless. "What in the world was that?"

"There's your evidence," I said smugly. "Alice is innocent."

"Rrrrrrrgh…Silence!" the Queen snapped. "I'm the law here! Article 29: Anyone who defies the queen is guilty!"

"That's crazy!" Donald yelled.

"Seize them at once!" she ordered, paying no attention to Donald's outburst. The cage Alice was being held in rose higher, and the cards started to try to capture our group. "Cards! If they touch the tower, you lose your heads!" While Donald and Goofy fended off the cards, Sora and I attacked and destroyed the Crank Tower, lowering the cage. Once lowered, though, we all saw Alice wasn't inside.

"She must've gotten kidnapped while we were fighting," Donald guessed.

"You fools! Find the one who's behind this! I don't care how!" the Queen ordered all of us. Sora, Donald, Goofy, and I proceeded back to the Lotus Forest to search for Alice. Inside, we once again encountered the Cheshire Cat.

"Have you seen Alice?" Donald asked him.

"Alice, no. Shadow, yes!" he replied with that goofy grin of his.

"Where did they go?" Goofy asked.

"This way? That way? Does it matter?" the cat replied. I was about to wipe that goofy grin off of his face. "Left, right, up, down! All mixed up thanks to the shadows! Step deeper into the forest to the deserted garden. You might find shadows in the upside-down room!" We proceeded to the Bizarre Room through the Lotus Forest, where the cat appeared again. "They're hiding somewhere. Want to find the shadows? Try turning on the light." We went over and turned on the light that was closest, and the flower-like lampshade began to glow. "It's too dim. Make it brighter."

"What next?" Donald asked.

"One more lamp that you need to light," the cat replied, and vanished. We turned on the other lamp, and the light brightened the room even more. Once lit, the cat reappeared. "All the lights are on. You'll see the shadows soon. They'll arise in this room soon, but somewhere else. The shadows might go after that doorknob, too." We then made our way back to the normal Bizarre Room, and then the cat appeared before us. "You'll have a better view from higher up." The cat then vanished and reappeared on the table. We followed after it, jumping onto the table and speaking to him. "The shadows should be here soon. Are you prepared for the worst? If not, too bad!"

Suddenly, a Heartless known as the Trickmaster appeared, and the Cheshire Cat vanished. We had no choice but to fight, so we did. Donald used his magic, Goofy his shield, and Sora used his Keyblade. I used my glowing claws and fangs in combination with the new Blizzard magic to help out. I chose Blizzard magic because the Trickmaster was capable of using fire to its advantage. After a tough fight, the Trickmaster collapsed, and a large heart floated out of it, and the Trickmaster itself faded away. After the fight was over, the doorknob spoke, sounding irritated.

"What a racket. How's a doorknob to get any sleep?" it grumbled. Suddenly, a keyhole appeared in its mouth. Sora's Keyblade appeared, and my claws glowed brighter than before. The Keyblade began to emit a beam of light, and light emanated from my claws, both of the lights going into the keyhole.

"What was that?" Donald wondered.

"You hear that?" Sora and I asked them. "Sounded like something closed." The Cheshire Cat reappeared in front of us.

"Splendid," he said, delighted. "You're quite the heroes! If you're looking for Alice, she's not here. She's gone! Off with the shadows, into darkness." And with that, he vanished again.

"No…" Sora breathed, and I sighed heavily. All of that effort, for naught.

"Let's go back to our Gummi ship," Donald suggested. "We might find her in another world."

We then left Wonderland, heading off for the next world. That was strange, that Alice was gone, and into darkness, by the sound of it.


	5. Chapter 5

A/N: No reviews yet, but I won't stop posting! I've still got plenty to come, k?

Disclaimer: I own nothing but Night and Kurai.

To the Coliseum! I Wanna Train!

We landed in the next world safely, and this world was called Olympus Coliseum. We walked into a lobby styled place, where a creature, half man from the waist up and half goat from the waist down, was standing, his back to us.

"Um…" Sora started to say, but the creature interrupted him.

"Good timing. Give me a hand, will ya?" he said, his back still to us. "Move that pedestal over there for me. I gotta spruce this place up for the games." Sora, Donald, and Goofy tried to push the pedestal, but to no avail.

"It weighs a ton!" Sora complained, but the guy paid him no mind. We approached him, and Sora said, "It's way too heavy!"

"What? Too heavy? Since when have you been such a little-" the guy started, but when he turned and saw us, he looked like he was mistaken. "Oh. Wrong guy. What're you doing here? This here's the world-famous Coliseum—heroes only!" He moved closer to Donald. "And I got my hands full preparing for the games. So run along, pip-squeaks." I snarled at that, making it deep and guttural. "Look, it's like this. Heroes are coming from all over to fight ferocious monsters right here in the Coliseum."

"You got heroes standing right in front of you," Donald told him.

"Yup," Goofy agreed. "They're real heroes chosen by the Keyblade and light!"

"And we're heroes, too," Donald added.

"Heroes? Those runts?" the guy, soon to introduce himself as Phil, laughed, and he burst into laughter. I snarled furiously, and was barely able to keep myself from lunging.

"What's so funny?" Sora demanded. "We've fought a bunch of monsters!"

"Hey, if you can't even move this…you can't call yourselves…heroes!" Phil grunted between his shoving as he attempted to push the pedestal. I picked it up with one hand, and shuffled it back and forth between my hands, and Phil stared at me for a moment, then shook his head as if to clear it. "Okay, so it takes more than brawn. Well, well, let's see what you can do. This trial is tough. You got what it takes? You ready?"

"We're ready!" Sora and I said.

"Okay, kids. Let's see what you've got," Phil replied. Sora and I then were put into a time trial to smash barrels before time ran out. Once we finished, we approached Phil. "You know, you ain't bad, kids."

"Looks like we're headed for the games," Sora guessed.

"Afraid not," Phil corrected.

"Why not?" I demanded.

"Two words: You guys ain't heroes," Phil replied. _That was four words, not two_…I thought to myself.

"Come on!" we protested.

"Wanna become real heroes? Start by mastering this spell," he told us, and gave us Thunder magic. We all four went outside the Lobby, where a voice addressed us.

"Rather a stubborn old goat, wouldn't you say?" the voice asked, and we saw a blue guy in a smoky black robe and a flaming head standing nearby.

"Who are you?" Donald asked him.

"Whoa, hold on there, fuzz boy," the guy said. "Wait, let me guess. You want to enter the games, right?" He placed a hand on Sora's shoulder, the one I wasn't perched on,, and I bristled. "Well, then, hey, get a load of this." An Entry Pass appeared in his other hand out of thin air.

"A pass?" I said curiously.

"It's all yours. Good luck, kids. I'm pulling for you, little shorties," he said, and I snarled viciously, snapping my jaws at him, but he ignored me. We left, and went back into the Lobby, and showed Phil the Entry Pass.

"Hey, how'd you get this?" Phil asked suspiciously.

"Can we enter the games now?" I asked eagerly. "I'm eager to stretch out my muscles."

"Well…I guess so," Phil replied hesitantly. "We start with the preliminaries! Ready for the preliminaries?"

"Yeah, let's go!" Sora told him.

"Some real weirdoes signed up for the games. Better watch yourselves," Phil warned us. We entered the battle area, and I took down the entire first round by myself, using my pure strength that rippled through my muscles to destroy the enemies.

"You're no heroes yet, but you ain't doing bad," Phil told us when we joined him in the Lobby again. "Lucky you came to me for coaching." A man with spiky blonde hair walked past us at that moment, and he stared at our group as he passed. I felt a chill down my spine as he stared at us. "Something tells me he'll be a tough one to beat. Who knows, maybe you'll end up facing him." We fought against the next two sets of enemies, fighting our way through rounds two and three, and coming out victorious.

"Say, you're better than I thought, kids!" Phil praised us when we came back into the Lobby for a quick breather. "Wish he was here to see this."

"Who?" I asked.

"Hercules. He's a hero if I ever saw one," he explained. "Too bad he's off visiting his father." We left for the next rounds, and came out victorious in the fourth, fifth, and sixth rounds, ending up being set against the man from earlier afterwards. We soon fought him, and boy, was he one tough customer. We learned the man's name was Cloud thanks to Phil, and I snarled at Cloud as we fought. His sword clanged loudly against my claws, and I felt his sword almost shatter against my claws. I backed away, and let Sora and the others finish him off. Once beaten, Cloud backed away, but suddenly, a giant, three-headed dog crashed into the center of the arena, and Cloud's sword fell to the ground. When that happened, a man with rather large muscles ran into the arena.

"Herc!" Phil yelled when he arrived.

"Phil, get them out of here!" Hercules ordered Phil. Sora, Donald, Goofy, Phil, and I ran into the Lobby.

"Whew, that was close!" Phil sighed with relief. "That was Cerberus, guardian of the Underworld. Herc should be able to handle him. But then again, maybe not…This doesn't look good." Right as we tried to enter the arena, Phil yelped, "Guys, you're not entering the arena, are ya? This isn't just some match. This is for real!"

"We're not afraid. You can decide if we're hero material or not," Sora and I retorted.

"Careful, kids!" Phil cautioned us, and I snorted. We ran into the arena, where Hercules had an unconscious Cloud draped over his shoulder, and was unable to defend himself against Cerberus. We charged in, and I dealt a fierce blow to the middle head, stunning the beast. I snarled viciously, and Sora and I used our new Thunder magic to aid in defeating the beast. Sora dealt the final defeating blow, and once finished, we regrouped with Phil and Herc in the Lobby. Later, Phil read something to us.

"Thus, I do hereby dub thee junior heroes, and confer upon thee full rights and privileges to participate in the games," Phil read. "Further-"

"Hey! What do you mean, 'junior heroes'?!" Donald demanded.

"You rookies still don't understand what it takes to be a true hero," Phil replied.

"So, what does it take?" Goofy asked.

"Well, that's just something you'll have to find out for yourselves. Just the way that I did," Herc answered.

"No problem. We'll start by proving ourselves in the games," Sora said easily.

"There ain't gonna be any games for a while," Phil informed us. "Gotta clean up the mess from that last battle first."

"Okay, we'll be back," I agreed, and we left the Lobby, and when we got outside, we saw Cloud sitting near the exit.

"Hey, are you all right?" Sora asked him.

"Yeah," Cloud answered.

"So why did you go along with him, anyway?" I asked.

"I'm looking for someone," Cloud explained. "Hades promised to help. I tried to exploit the power of darkness, but it backfired. I fell into darkness, and couldn't find the light." He stood up and started to walk past us.

"You'll find it," Sora and I assured him. "We're searching, too."

"For your light? Don't lose sight of it," Cloud told us.

"How about a rematch sometime?" Sora asked, and I chuckled. "Fair and square, no dark powers involved."

"I think I'll pass," Cloud replied with a smirk, and left. We then left as well, leaving for our next destination.

A/N: How was it? I hope these aren't too short for you guys. I know their a couple pages shorter than most of my chapters in my other fics, but that's because I'm going world by world. Anyhoo, read & review, peeps!


	6. Chapter 6

A/N: Chapter 6 is here, and not too long after the fifth! Enjoy~

Disclaimer: I own nothing but Shadow and Kurai.

Off For A Deep Jungle Exploration! But Now We Go Back to Traverse Town…

We were traveling to the next world, but when we were about to disembark to the one we were closest to, Goofy said, "Hey, Donald, maybe King Mickey's down there."

"In a backwater place like that?" Donald asked in disbelief. "No way! Let's move on."

"Hold on, Riku, Kurai, and Kairi might be down there," Sora pointed out, and I sided with him. "Let's just check it out."

"Forget it!" Donald snapped. "We're on an important mission!"

"Just land!" I growled.

"No!"

"Come on!" Sora complained.

"Aw, phooey!" Donald scoffed.

"We're landing!" Sora and I said determinedly.

"Don't touch that!" Donald cried out, and I jumped and pressed a button. "Nooo!" The Gummi Ship crashed into the new world, called Deep Jungle, and Sora and I passed out. When we came to, Donald and Goofy were nowhere to be seen.

"Ow…my head…" I groaned.

"Donald? Goofy?" Sora called out. Out of nowhere, though, a jaguar lunged at us from the shadows, and I was fast enough to swiftly knock it back. It smashed into a nearby tree, and fell to the wooden floor we were standing on, stunned. It snarled and lunged at us again, and Sora summoned his Keyblade, making my claws glow. We swiftly fought back the jaguar, but suddenly, a man in a loincloth swung in and fended off the jaguar, and knocked it back. The jaguar fled the scene, seeing as it had no chance for a meal. The man turned to us.

"Sabor, danger," he told us.

"Um…thank you," Sora said, looking awkward.

"Thank you," the man replied.

"Huh? What is this place?" I asked him.

"This place, this place," the man repeated.

"Okaaay…Where did the others go?" Sora wondered. "Look, we got separated from our friends. Have you seen them?"

"Hmm?" he said, looking confused.

"Friends…" we murmured, and he looked at us as though he recognized the word.

"Friends!" he said excitedly.

"Right, our friends!" I said. "The loud one is Dona-"

"Huh?" the man said, looking confused again.

"You know what? Never mind," we said, dismissing Donald and Goofy. "We're looking for our friends, Riku, Kurai, and Kairi."

"Look for Riku, Kurai, friends?" the man repeated.

"Right!" Sora confirmed.

"Kairi, friends?" the man added.

"Uhh…right…" I said.

"Friends here," the man told us.

"Really?!" Sora said eagerly.

"Friends here," he repeated after a small series of strange sounds even I couldn't interpret.

"Not sure we understand, but show us!" Sora said. "Take us to Riku, Kurai, and Kairi!"

"Tarzan. Tarzan go," the man said in introduction.

"And we're…Sora and Shadow," we said. "Tarzan go, Sora go go!" And with that, Tarzan led us to a campsite where a rather large, nice-looking tent was set up. He led us into the tent, and once inside, a woman in a nice dress quickly approached us.

"Jane!" Tarzan said excitedly.

"Tarzan!" she said, just as excited, and then she noticed us. "Oh, and who are they?"

"Uh, hi there. We're-" I started to say, but she cut me off.

"Oh, you both speak English!" she sighed with relief. "So, then, obviously, you're not related to Tarzan…Are you here to study the gorillas?"

"Highly doubtful," a man's voice said nearby. We turned and saw a man with a loaded gun. I bristled at the mere sight of it, seeing as I have experienced firsthand how a gunshot wound feels. Donald and Goofy stood next to the man.

"Sora! Shadow!" Goofy cried out.

"Goofy! Donald!" Sora cried out happily. I sighed with relief, but still felt a twinge of irritation towards Donald for not wanting to land here in the first place. Donald and Sora held each other's hand in a friendly manner, but quickly turned and folded their arms across their chests. Goofy stood nearby, watching. I snickered, and then turned a cold glare to the man with the gun. I had a bad feeling about him, besides the fact that he had a gun.

"A circus of clowns," the man sneered. "Not much use for hunting gorillas."

"Mr. Clayton, we're studying them, not hunting them," Jane scolded. "This is research." And with that, Clayton left. Jane turned back to us. "Well, the more the merrier. Do make yourselves at home."

"Well, anyway…" I said.

"I'm staying," Sora and Donald said at the same time.

"Huh?" Sora said, looking at Donald with a confused look.

"Sora, Shadow, look what we found," Goofy said, holding out something. "Look at this."

"What's that?" I asked.

"A Gummi block," Goofy answered. "The same stuff used to build our ship."

"So that means…" Sora murmured, trailing off.

"The king could be here," Donald assumed. "So, we've gotta work together to look for him. For now."

"Fine. We'll let you tag along. For now," Sora and I said. We spoke to Jane after that little conversation, and she was inside the tent.

"Apparently, Tarzan was raised in the jungle by the gorillas," Jane told us. "Communicating with him still isn't easy, but he's learning."

"So he was speaking in 'gorilla' back there…" I murmured.

"Ah, that's right. You're looking for your friends?" Jane asked us.

"He said Riku, Kurai, and Kairi are here," Sora explained to her. "And one word we couldn't understand…"

"Why don't we try this? We'll show Tarzan some slides and see if any of them match that word," Jane suggested. "Oh, what happened to the slides?"

"Let me search for them," I told her. "I'll track them down." I began to sniff the area the slides were kept in, and then started to inhale deeply, trying to catch wind of them. I soon caught on to the trail, and ran along it, my friends barely able to keep up. We soon tracked down all six slides, and brought them back to Jane in the tent. She thanked us and put the slides into the projector, and we looked at the first slide. It was of a castle, and Sora and I each felt a sense of déjà vu.

"…" Sora and I were silent as we thought to ourselves.

"What's wrong, Sora and Shadow?" Jane asked us.

"What? Um…Nothing," Sora said, and we thought back and forth to each other with my telepathy, _This place…it just looks so familiar. But how? We've never been off our island._ Sora and I watched Tarzan as we all looked through five more slides and Jane turned to him.

"Well, Tarzan?" she asked him.

"Where are our friends, Riku, Kurai, and Kairi?" Sora asked him, but Tarzan shook his head as if he didn't know.

"Hey, I thought-" I started to say, but Clayton entered and cut me off.

"That leaves just one place," he said. "Young man and lizard-" I growled irritably. "—we've been in this jungle for some time now. But we have yet to encounter these friends of yours. I'd wager they're with the gorillas. But Tarzan refuses to take us to them."

"Really, Mr. Clayton. Tarzan wouldn't hide-" Jane tried to protest, but Clayton cut her off, too.

"Then take us there! Take us to the gorillas. Go-ril-las," he said to Tarzan, speaking to him like a child. Tarzan looked at Sora and I and nodded his head.

"Tarzan…are you sure?" Jane asked him.

"Tarzan go see Kerchak," Tarzan told her.

"Kerchak?" Jane repeated.

"He must be the leader," Clayton guessed. "Perfect. I'll go along as an escort. After all, the jungle is a dangerous place." He grinned mischievously when he finished speaking, and I bristled with anger. After they left the tent, we followed, and ended up encountering the jaguar, Sabor, again. Sabor was bolder this time, rather than hiding in the shadows and lunging out like before. Sora, Donald, Goofy, and I fought off Sabor, and, once beaten, he fled. We made our way to the Vine Area, where Tarzan began to speak gorilla to the largest male, who must have been Kerchak. I listened carefully, and translated mentally.

"Kerchak, please listen to me," Tarzan begged. "I know the nesting grounds are secret, but I trust them. You see, I want to help them because…because…well, they need us."

Kerchak remained silent, and I heard Goofy whisper to Donald, "Did you get that?"

"No," Donald whispered back.

"Kerchak," Tarzan said, and Kerchak looked up. "Kerchak…" And with that, Kerchak and the female accompanying him left. Tarzan looked down, seeming upset. We proceeded to the Tree House, where Sora and I had first ended up in this world. Inside, there was another gorilla, and this one was playing with a globe. I spotted Clayton attempting to aim his rifle at the gorilla, but before I could do anything to stop him, Donald raced in; screaming like crazy, he distracted Clayton, making his shot barely miss.

"What's the big idea?!" Donald yelled at him.

"Wait, Kerchak, please!" Tarzan begged, but Kerchak and the other gorilla quickly left.

"You don't understand," Clayton said, trying to plead his case. "I was only trying to…Ah. A snake slithered by, you see. I saved that poor gorilla's life."

I shook my head in disbelief, and Tarzan seemed to agree. We left for the Cliff, where Sabor attacked us a third time. We swiftly took care of the jaguar, and he fled, getting away once again. Once we had taken care of the cat, we left back for the tent. Inside, Jane turned to Clayton angrily.

"How could you do such a thing!" she snapped at him.

"Now, Miss Porter, as I told you, I was not aiming at the gorilla," he insisted, and I rolled my eyes.

"You are not to go near the gorillas again!" Jane ordered him firmly.

"All because of one mishap? Come, now…" Clayton said, trying to plead his case. We all glared at him, and he looked embarrassed, but his behavior told another story, as he angrily stormed out of the tent. After a while from the time he left, we suddenly heard a gunshot ring out. The five of us ran outside, and were quickly surrounded by Heartless. We saw a gorilla that was also surrounded by Heartless.

"Heartless!" Sora and I gasped, and we all five fought off the Heartless that attacked. We quickly fought off the Heartless around the gorilla as well, and the gorilla fled once it found it was safe. We made our way through the jungle, finding four more gorillas to save, and they reacted the same way the first one had once safe. Once we had saved all of the gorillas, we went back to the tent. Jane approached us.

"I do hope Mr. Clayton is safe…" she murmured. Sora, Donald, Goofy, Tarzan, and I went outside again, and heard a gunshot again. We ran to the source, which was the Bamboo Thicket, but all we found was Clayton's smoke pipe. Suddenly, Sabor lunged out from the darkness of the shadows again, and we fought him off. Finally, once beaten, Sabor looked defeated, so he fled, this time for good. We left back for the tent once Sabor was defeated, but Jane wasn't there.

"Hey, where's Jane?" I wondered.

"What's wrong, Tarzan?" Goofy asked him.

"Something coming," Tarzan grunted. "Jane, danger. Jane near…Near Tree House."

"Sounds like trouble," Donald pointed out. "Let's go." We quickly made our way to the climbing trees, and we found Jane and one of the gorillas in a cage.

"Tarzan!" Jane cried out with relief. I struck down the big black fruit, and the cage door opened, releasing Jane and the gorilla. Jane quickly ran over to us. "Clayton came to the tent, and…that's the last thing I remember."

"Clayton?" Sora said curiously.

"Gorillas trapped. Terk ran," Tarzan said worriedly.

"We must help the gorillas," Jane said urgently. Sora, Donald, Goofy, Tarzan, and I ran to the Cliff, and once there, we saw the gorillas surrounded by Clayton and the Heartless. Right as Clayton was about to open fire, Sora and I yelled at him.

"NO!" we yelled, and he stopped, looking at the five of us oddly.

"Clayton?" Sora said, confused. I bristled with warning, and hissed.

"Not Clayton!" Tarzan cried out, and made that strange sound from before. "Not Clayton!" We fought off the Heartless surrounding the gorillas, but once they were gone, Clayton floated into the air on the back of an invisible enemy. It soon revealed itself as a Heartless, and we fought Clayton and the Heartless, defeating them. Once they were defeated, Clayton fell off of it, landing underneath it right as the Heartless crashed onto him, ending them both. A large heart came from it as they vanished. The gorillas gathered around us, and Kerchak threw Sora, Donald, and Goofy into another area, and I spread my wings and followed them. Tarzan followed us up there, as did Terk with Jane.

"Tarzan home," Tarzan said as we entered the Waterfall Cavern. It was a pretty area with a blue light. Tarzan suddenly sounded that strange noise from before, right before we fought Clayton.

"This is your home?" I said in confusion. "But that means…"

"Huh?" Goofy said.

"The waterfalls…They're echoing all the way here," Jane murmured. Tarzan made that strange sound again.

"Friends there. See friends," he said.

"Oh, now I've got it," Jane said. "It means heart. Friends in our hearts…"

"Heart," Tarzan murmured.

"Oh, so that's what it meant," Sora realized.

"Friends, same heart. Clayton, lose heart. No heart, no see friends," Tarzan explained. Sora and I turned to Donald.

"Sorry about what we said," we mumbled to him.

"I'm sorry, too," Donald replied. Goofy placed a hand on Donald's and Sora's shoulders.

"Yeah, all for one, huh?" he said. Suddenly, a keyhole appeared in the blue light. Sora and I used the Keyblade and my light to lock the keyhole, sealing this world. Once we finished, Terk was trying to be friendly with Donald.

"I think someone has a new admirer," Jane giggled. We all laughed, except for Donald.

"No, no, no, no!" Donald cried out. "Daisy would kill me!" Later, back in the tent, we were gathered together.

"Well, guess we better get going," I said.

"Where is your ship, anyway?" Jane asked us.

"Well, uh…Not too far," Donald said, and was able to dodge around an explanation.

"Sora, Shadow, Tarzan, friends," Tarzan said, and gave Sora a keychain to equip the Keyblade with. Afterwards, we proceeded to the Gummi Ship. Once there, we check out the Gummi block we had gotten from locking the keyhole, and decided to go to Traverse Town to find out more about it.


	7. Chapter 7

A/N: Yay, chapter 7! Here we go! Also, I noticed I put down Night instead of Shadow in the past couple of chapters, so just to fix that, I'll make sure you know it's Shadow, not Night. Enjoy~

Disclaimer: I own nothing but Shadow and Kurai.

Back To Traverse Town!

When we arrived back in Traverse Town, We entered the Secret Waterway and met back up with Leon and Aerith.

"So, you found the Keyhole," Leno guessed when we approached.

"Yeah," we said. "The Keyblade and light locked it automatically."

"Good," Aerith sighed with relief.

"Every world among the stars has a keyhole," Leon explained. "And each one leads to the heart of that world. There must be one in this town as well."

"What do you mean?" Sora asked.

"It was in Ansem's report," Aerith told us.

"The Heartless enter through the keyhole and do something to the world's core," Leon added.

"What happens to the world?" I asked. I shuddered inside at the thought, but braced myself for the answer.

"In the end, it disappears," Aerith answered, and I gasped in horror.

"What?!" my friends yelped, and I almost broke down, because I knew that that must have been what happened to my world.

"That's why your key and light are so important," Leon told Sora and me.

"Please lock the keyholes," Aerith begged. "You're the only ones who can."

"I don't know…" Sora murmured.

"Seeing other worlds would probably serve you well," Leon pointed out.

"Yeah!" Donald agreed.

"We gotta find your friends! And King Mickey!" Goof added.

"I guess you're right…Okay!" Sora said easily. I agreed with him, but I still felt almost heartbroken; my world was gone, and I didn't know what to do about it. We spoke to Leon about the Gummi block, and Sora asked, "Hey, Leon. This Gummi block's different from the others. Do you know what it's for?"

"…" Leon looked at us, thinking.

"Ask Cid. He should know," Aerith suggested.

"Wait, Sora and Shadow," Leon said, stopping us. "Take this with you." He gave us a stone called Earthshine, and he added, "This stone holds some mysterious power. I've been carrying it for luck. I want you two to hold onto it."

"How do you use it?" I asked, but Leon didn't say anything as he looked like he was thinking. We left for the Accessory Shop and spoke to Cid.

"What've you got there?" he asked as we held it out to him. "Hey! Well, if it ain't a Gummi block."

"Yup," Donald confirmed.

"What's this one for?" Goofy asked.

"You're kiddin' me! You're flyin' a Gummi Ship and you don't know nothin' about navigation gummis?" Cid yelped in disbelief. "Bunch of pinheads. Interspace ain't no playground."

"There's a lot we don't know. So what!" I retorted. "We have to use the Gummi Ship to g to other worlds. We don't have a choice."

"Whoa, easy," Cid said, calming me down. "No hard feelings, all right? Well, I guess I could lend ya'll a hand, then."

"Thanks," Sora told him.

"Basically, with navigation gummis, you can go to new places," Cid explained. "You want one on your ship, right?" Donald and Goofy nodded. "I'll install it for you. But I got this thing I gotta go deliver first."

"What do you need to deliver?" I asked.

"Just this book," Cid told us. "It's real old. When the guy brought it in, it was practically falling apart. Too beat up to restore it to the way it was. But overall, I did a decent job puttin' it back together. Anyway, you mind deliverin' it for me? It's the old house past the Third District. Look for a big fire sign." Cid handed us the book, but there was suddenly a shaking and a bell sound.

"Wh-what was that?" Sora stammered.

"Hmm? The bell at the gizmo shop is ringing," Cid told us. "Go check it out if you want, but deliver that book for me first. When you're done, stop by the house in the Third District. I'll be there." We left for the house past the Third District, just as Cid had told us, and found a house with a fire sign above it. Inside, it was totally empty. When we walked inside, my mind suddenly linked with Sora's, and we could both see an image of Kairi.

"There's something about this musty place…" her voice said. "It reminds me of the Secret Place back home, where we used to scribble on the walls. Remember?"

"Kairi?" we said, confused. My mind parted with Sora's, and there was nothing there.

"Sora? Shadow?" Goofy said, and we shook our heads, clearing them. After that, an elderly-looking man walked in with a cloth bag in one hand.

"Well, well…You've arrived sooner than I expected," he told us.

"Wha…You knew we were coming?" I asked, puzzled by him.

"Of course," he said simply.

"Are you…a Heartless?" Sora asked him, and I smacked my face with one hand. I couldn't believe he had seriously just asked that.

"He doesn't look like one," Donald pointed out.

"Oh, my. No. My name is Merlin," the man told us. "As you can see, I am a sorcerer. I spend much of my time traveling. It's good to be home. Your king has requested my help."

"King Mickey?" Goofy asked.

"Yes, indeed. Donald, Goofy," Merlin said, pointing to them each in turn, and then he looked at Sora and me. "And who might you two be?"

"We're Sora and Shadow," we told him.

"Ah. So, you have found the key and light," Merlin said.

"What did the king ask you to do?" Donald asked Merlin.

"Just a moment…" Merlin murmured, and stood in the center of the room with his bag, which he opened. "Presto!" he said, and there was a bright flash, and suddenly, there was furniture in the no longer empty house. Now the whole house looked like a study. "There, now. Ahem. Your king asked me to train you in the art of magic. We can start anytime you like. Let me know when you're ready to begin the training. Oh, and one more thing." We saw a small carriage which transformed into a fairy godmother, and she walked over to us.

"Hello. I'm the Fairy Godmother. Your king asked me to help, too," she told us. "I will assist you throughout your journey."

"I do not know how much I can be of help, but do stop by anytime," Merlin told us. We gave Merlin the old book, and he said, "Oh, that book…So, Cid asked you to bring this. Thank you. You wish to know what kind of book it is? I don't even know, myself. In fact, it's not mine. Somehow it found its way into my bag one day. It was such a curious book, I asked Cid to repair it for me. Well, I guess I'll put it here somewhere, for now. This book holds a great secret. The missing pages will unlock it. I'll leave the book over there. Do look at it whenever you like. My best regards to Cid for repairing it for me. Oh, and about that stone of yours…You should ask the Fairy Godmother about that." And with that, we walked over to Fairy Godmother with the stone held out.

"Do you know what this is?" Sora asked her.

"Oh, the poor thing!" she gasped. "He has turned into a summon gem."

"Summon gem?" I repeated.

"This little creature lived in a world that was consumed by darkness," she explained. "When a world vanishes, so do its inhabitants. But this one had such a strong heart, he became a gem instead of vanishing with his world."

"Can he regain himself?" I asked worriedly.

"Yes, but only his spirit," she replied. "Now, watch! Bibbity Bobbity boo!" She suddenly cast a spell on the gem, and we gained the summon for a lion named Simba. "Whenever you call, he will help you. If you find any more of these, bring them to me. Don't worry, when their worlds are restored they will return there. Sora, Shadow, please save them."

"Don't worry, we will," we assured her. As we started to leave, however, Merlin stopped us.

"You'd best go see Cid before going anywhere else," he told us. We left for the Third District, but suddenly, we were surrounded by Heartless. Before we could attack, however, a pair came in and defeated them all with their sword and claws. Once they were gone, Sora and I heard a pair of very familiar voices.

"There you are. What's going on?" Riku and Kurai, of all people, said to us.

"Riku! Kurai" we cried out, overjoyed to see two of our best friends again. Sora and I ran over to them, and I grinned at them, clapping Kurai on the back, but Sora tried to open Riku's mouth wide.

"Hey, hey, cut it out," Riku said sternly, and I chuckled.

"We're not dreaming this time, right?" we asked him.

"I hope not," Kurai replied, his dark grey armor shimmering slightly in the light from the lamps. "Took forever to find you two."

"Riku, Kurai! Wait a second, where's Kairi?" Sora asked.

"Isn't she with you?" Riku asked, seeming mildly surprised. I took a delicate sniff of them, and I could immediately tell something was off. "Well, don't worry. I'm sure she made it off the island, too. We're finally free. Hey, she might even be looking for us now." Suddenly, a Heartless appeared behind Riku and Kurai. "We'll all be together again soon. Don't worry. Just leave everything to me. I know this-" Before he could finish his sentence, Sora and I slashed through the Heartless with the Keyblade and my claws.

"Leave it to who?" I teased.

"Sora, Shadow, what did you-" Kurai asked us.

"We've been looking for you and Kairi, too, with their help," we explained, gesturing to Donald and Goofy.

"Who are they?" Riku asked.

"Ahem. My name is-" Donald started to say, but Sora cut him off.

"We visited so many places and worlds, looking for you," he told Riku and Kurai, and I nodded agreement.

"Really? Well, what do you know?" Kurai said, seeming surprised. "I never would have guessed."

"Oh, and guess what? Sora and Shadow are the Keyblade and light masters," Goofy told him. "Who would've thought it?"

What's that mean?!" I demanded of Goofy.

"So, this is called a Keyblade?" Riku said curiously, holding Sora's Keyblade.

"Huh? Hey, give it back," Sora said.

"Catch!" Riku said, backing up, and he tossed the Keyblade. Sora caught it.

"Okay, so, you're both coming with us, right?" I asked eagerly. "We've got this awesome rocket. Wait 'til you see it!"

"No, they can't come!" Donald snapped firmly.

"What?" I yelped in disbelief.

"Forget it!" Donald snapped.

"Oh, come on! They're our friends!" Sora protested.

"I don't care!" Donald yelled.

"They're gone," Goofy told us.

"Riku? Kurai?" we called out, and then turned to Donald and Goofy. "Nice going. Oh, well. At least they're okay. And who knows? Maybe we'll run into Kairi soon, too." We left for the small house Cid had told us to meet him at, and once there, we met up with Leon, Yuffie, Aerith, and Cid.

"You guys ever hear of Maleficent?" Cid asked us, and we shook our heads. "I hear she's in town."

"Who is she?" I asked.

"A witch, man, she's a witch!" Cid cried out.

"She's the reason this town is full of Heartless," Leon added. "Don't take her lightly."

"She's been using Heartless for years," Aerith chimed in.

"We lost our world, thanks to her," Leon grumbled.

"One day, a swarm of Heartless took over our world!" Cid explained.

"That was nine years ago," Leon added.

"I got out of that mess and came here with these guys," Cid told us.

"That's awful!" Donald said sadly.

"Our ruler was a wise man named Ansem," Leon said. "He dedicated his life to studying the Heartless."

"His report should tell us how to get rid of the Heartless," Cid explained.

"Where's this report?" Sora asked.

"We don't know," Leon admitted. "It got scattered when our world was destroyed."

"I'm sure Maleficent's got most of the pages," Cid bet. Once we had finished that conversation, we told Cid that the book had been delivered. "So, you delivered that book? The navigation gummi's installed and ready to go. You find another one, you bring it to me. I threw in a warp gummi for the heck of it. Now you can jump to worlds you've been to before. Well, better get back to my real job. What's my real job? You'll see. See me at the First District." Later, we spoke to Aerith and Yuffie.

"I've been thinking about the bell in the Second District," Aerith murmured.

"That one that rang a while ago?" I asked.

"The one above the gizmo shop," Yuffie confirmed. "There's a legend about it, you know."

"But it's all boarded up. Nobody can get in there," Aerith added.

"Heck, go check it out," Cid suggested. "Ring it three times to see if anything happens."

We left for the gizmo shop in the Second District, and destroyed the boards that blocked the bell off. Once we rang the bell three times just as Cid had told us, a keyhole appeared near the courtyard. We left the gizmo shop and walked into the courtyard, where we encountered another Guard Armor. We fought and defeated it, but then it changed into the Opposite Armor. We fought that one as well, and once beaten, a large heart floated out of it as its body faded away. Once it was gone, we gained the spell Aero, and Sora and I locked the keyhole, sealing out the Heartless. Once finished, we left for the Accessory Shop, where a wooden boy was. Our royal chronicler, Jiminy Cricket, jumped over to him.

"Well, well, as I live and breathe! If it isn't Pinocchio!" Jiminy said in amazement.

"Oh. Hi, Jiminy," Pinocchio said in greeting. He looked like he had been caught red-handed, and we would soon find out why.

"What in the world are you doing down here?" Jiminy asked him.

"Um…Playing hide-and-seek," Pinocchio mumbled after a short pause.

"I just don't believe it," Jiminy murmured. "And here I was, up all night, just worried sick about you. Why of all the—Pinocchio!" We stared at the wooden boy as his nose grew longer. "Pinocchio! Are you telling me the truth?"

"Yes!" Pinocchio insisted, and his nose grew a bit longer.

"Then tell me, what is this?" Jiminy demanded as he pulled something away from Pinocchio's hand.

"It was a present," Pinocchio replied.

"No fibbing, now!" Jiminy said sternly. "You know you're not supposed to tell lies. A lie only grows and grows, 'til you get caught! Plain as the nose on your face!"

"But if you want something, why wait?" Pinocchio said. "Why not just take it?"

"Oh, my! Who told you that? You need some advice from your conscience!" Jiminy said in surprise.

"That's right! You're my conscience, Jiminy! I'll never tell lies as long as you're around," Pinocchio realized, and his nose shortened to its normal size.

"You need to be good to become a real boy," Jiminy told him. "You promised Gepetto you would be, right?"

"Oh! Do you know where Father is?" Pinocchio asked suddenly.

"He's not with you?" Jiminy replied, looking puzzled.

"Jiminy, let's go find Father!" Pinocchio said eagerly.

"Now, hold on!" Jiminy said, stopping him. "There are all sorts of dangers and temptations out there! I'll go find Geppetto, so you just wait here. These fellows here will be helping me."

"We will?" I asked doubtfully.

"Well, shall we go, Sora and Shadow?" Jiminy asked.

"You could've asked us first…" Sora muttered, and we left for the Gummi Ship, leaving for the next world.


	8. Chapter 8

A/N: Last chapter update for the day, probably. I may update again later, but it depends on whether or not I remember, hehe. Enjoy~

Disclaimer: I own nothing but Shadow and Kurai.

Wishes Really Do Come True, If You Believe…

We arrived in the next world, called Agrabah, and when we got there, we found a woman hiding. She looked around, but she couldn't see us.

"Who's there? Hello?" she called out quietly and came out from hiding. "I'm Jasmine. My father is the sultan of Agrabah."

"Uh…So that makes you a princess," Goofy guessed.

"But he has been deposed by Jafar, who now controls the city," she added.

"Jafar?" Goofy repeated.

"You haven't heard of him?" she asked in disbelief. "He's the royal vizier. He's gained evil powers and seized Agrabah. He's desperately looking for something—something he calls the 'Keyhole.' Jafar caught me trying to escape, but he helped me."

"Who helped you?" Sora asked.

"We were hiding nearby, but he left a while ago to take care of something…Oh, I hope Aladdin is all right," she murmured.

"Aladdin? Where might I find this street rat?" Jafar said, appearing near us. "Jasmine, allow me to find you more suitable company, my dear princess. These little rats won't do, you see."

"Jasmine, run!" I yelled to her, and she fled as we prepared to fight Jafar.

"Ah, the boy who holds the key and his light-wielding pet," Jafar sneered, and I snarled viciously. Jafar left as several Heartless appeared, and we swiftly fought them off. Once they were gone, we wandered around the city, making our way into an old home that had ratty cloths and things around in it. There was a carpet struggling beneath a chest, and I lifted it, freeing the carpet. It flew away outside the window, and off to the desert.

"The carpet flew off toward the desert. Let's follow it, Sora and Shadow!" Donald said. We made our way to the Desert where the carpet was waiting for us. "It wants us to come along?"

"All aboard," Sora said, and Donald and Goofy climbed on, but when Sora tried to squeeze on, there was barely any room.

"How are you gonna get there, Sora?" Goofy asked. I had spread my wings.

"He can ride on my back," I told them.

"What? How? You're too small," Donald said, and I snarled and snapped my jaws an inch from his face.

"I can grow in size! I can shape-shift, so wouldn't it make sense that I can change my size, too?!" I shrieked at him. "Don't call me small!" I grew in size, to about the size of a horse, and spread my wings. Sora climbed on, and I flicked my tail at Donald, and then launched myself airborne. We flew off through the Desert, and Sora and I followed the carpet. When we stopped, it was above a place near a quicksand pit, and there was a young man struggling inside of it. Before we could reach him, though, Heartless appeared upon our landing. We fought them off, but before we could get to the young man's aid, though, more Heartless appeared.

"Gawrsh, not again!" Goofy cried out. While we fought, the young man freed himself from the quicksand and pulled a lamp out from his shirt.

"Genie, get rid of these guys!" he yelled, and a genie appeared from it.

"Wish Number One, coming right up!" the genie said comically. He then eliminated the Heartless, and we gathered together in the desert. Sora and I explained the situation to him, and the young man introduced himself as Aladdin.

"I see…Thanks, Sora and Shadow," he said gratefully.

"Aladdin, what're you doing out here?" I asked.

"Same old stuff," he told us. "Hunting legendary treasure. Just paid a visit to the Cave of Wonders. I found that magic carpet, and this lamp. Legend has it that whoever holds the lamp summons the-" Genie's voice sounded then, interrupting Aladdin.

"Please, kid, leave the intros to a professional," he said humorously. "The one and only GENIE OF THE LAMP! Rub-a-dub-dub the lamp and have your dearest wishes granted. Today's winner is…Aladdin! Congratulations!"

"Any wish?" Donald asked.

"Patience, my fine, feathered friend!" Genie told him, and turned into three of himself, each one holding up one finger. "Any three wishes! A one wish, a two wish, three wish. Then I make like a banana and split! Our lucky winner has made his first—and let me tell you, what a today that wish was—so he has two left. So, master, what'll you have for Wish Number Two?" A light appeared above Aladdin.

"Hmm, how about making me a fabulously wealthy prince?" Aladdin suggested.

"Oooh! Money! Royalty! Fame! Why didn't I think of that?" Genie said excitedly. "Okay, you asked for it! A hundred servants and a hundred camels loaded with gold! Just say the word and I'll deliver it in 30 minutes or less, or your meal's free. Hey, I'll even throw in a cappuccino! Okay."

"I think I'll put that on hold until we reach Agrabah," Aladdin told Genie.

"Uh, why a prince?" Goofy asked.

"You see, there's this girl in Agrabah named Jasmine," Aladdin explained. "But she's a princess, and I'm…Aw, she could never fall for a guy like me."

"Oh. Princess?" Donald asked.

"Jasmine?" Goofy repeated.

"Oh, that's right! She's in trouble, Aladdin!" Sora told him, and we all four remembered.

"What? Well, c'mon, let's get going!" Aladdin said urgently, and Sora jumped on my back while the others rode on Carpet, and Genie flew alongside us.

"Ah, fresh air! The great outdoors!" Genie exclaimed as we flew. I relished in the feeling of the air flowing past me as well, and sighed heavily with joy.

"I guess you don't get out much, huh?" Sora asked Genie.

"Comes with the job," Genie said simply. "Phenomenal cosmic powers. Itty-bitty living space. It's always three wishes, then back to my portable prison. I'm lucky to see the light of day every century or two…"

"Say, Genie, what if I use my last wish to free you from the lamp?" Aladdin asked. "What do you think?"

"You'd do that?" Genie asked excitedly.

"Genie, it's a promise," Aladdin promised him. "After we help Jasmine." We entered the old home, which turned out to belong to Aladdin, and we explained what Jafar was looking for. "So, Jafar is after Jasmine and this 'Keyhole'."

"Keyhole, eh?" Genie said, looking thoughtful. "I could swear I've heard about that somewhere before…"

"Really? Where?" Donald asked eagerly.

"Now, where was it? It's only been 200 years…" Genie replied.

"Well, anyway, we've got to stop Jafar before it's too late," I pointed out, and we left Aladdin's home. Outside, Jafar was waiting for us, and he had Jasmine in his clutches.

"Setting your sights a little high, aren't you, boy?" Jafar taunted Aladdin. "Back to your hole, street rat. I will not allow you to trouble the princess any more."

"Jasmine!" Aladdin cried out.

"I'm so sorry, Aladdin," she whispered. Aladdin, who held the lamp behind his back, rubbed it.

"Genie, help Jasmine. Please!" he begged Genie, and Genie appeared and picked Jasmine up.

"One wish left! You're making this really easy, you know," Genie told Aladdin.

"So sorry, boy. I'm afraid your second wish has been denied," Jafar said, and a parrot flew over and snitched the lamp from Aladdin.

"I'm sorry, Al," Genie mumbled, and went with Jafar. Meanwhile, Jafar dropped Jasmine into a pot, and the pot turned into a Pot Centipede Heartless.

"And now, I bid you all farewell," Jafar said. "Attack!" We fought against the Pot Centipede, and quickly smashed the Heartless into nothing.

"Jasmine!" Aladdin yelled, but she was nowhere to be seen. Suddenly, we heard Jafar's evil laugh. "To the desert! Come on, let's move!" Sora climbed onto my back once I grew in size again, and the others rode on Carpet. As we flew, we ended up in the area we had found Aladdin at, and there was a giant sand tiger head. It turned out to be the Guardian of the Cave of Wonders, and we had no choice but to fight it if we wanted to get inside. We fought the Guardian, and swiftly defeated it. Once beaten, the Guardian opened its mouth wide and stopped moving. We walked inside and made our way to the depths of the cave. We made our way through the Treasure Room, and inside there, we found another entrance to another room. We walked inside to the Lamp Chamber, and we found Jafar, Jasmine, and a dark witch cloaked in black robes, the insides a sickly-green color. She held a staff with a large green jewel on the top in one hand.

"Wait a second. Are you Maleficent?" I demanded when we ran in, but without a word, she vanished in a burst of green and black flames.

"Jafar, let Jasmine go!" Aladdin yelled at him.

"Not a chance. You see, she's a princess—one of the seven who somehow hold the key to opening the door," Jafar retorted.

"Open…" Goofy began.

"…the door?" Donald finished.

"But you fools won't live to see what's beyond it," Jafar cackled. He turned to Genie. "Genie! My second wish. Crush them!"

"Genie, no!" Aladdin pleaded.

"Sorry, Al. The one with the lamp calls the shots. I don't have a choice," Genie muttered, looking upset. We fought Jafar, who fought us with Genie's aid. It was quite a simple fight, especially seeing as Genie threw us a few health orbs here and there. Once Jafar was beaten, Sora and my Blizzard magic was upgraded to Blizzara. We approached Jasmine, who was unconscious, but then Jafar reappeared.

"Genie!" he yelled, hovering in midair. "My final wish! I want you to make me an all-powerful genie!" Genie, unable to resist, turned Jafar into Genie Jafar, and he went underground. We ran down the pit to the lava area, and saw Iago flying around carrying Jafar's lamp.

"The lamp! Get Jafar's lamp!" Aladdin told us, and we chased after Iago, striking him each chance we got. Once Iago dropped the lamp, it was all over for Jafar. I caught the lamp and flew over to Sora, dropping it in his hands. I perched on Sora's shoulder, grinning evilly.

"Okay, Jafar! Back to your lamp!" Sora declared, and Jafar was sucked into his lamp. After the fight, Sora and my Fire spell was upgraded to Fira, and we gained Ansem's Report 1. We ran back up to the area Jasmine was, but when we got there, she was nowhere to be seen.

"Jasmine? Jasmine!" Aladdin called for her in a panic. The Keyhole hovered nearby, and Sora's Keyblade began to glow, along with my claws. We locked the Keyhole, sealing Agrabah from the Heartless. Suddenly, the whole place began to shake.

"Whoa, we'd better get out of here!" Goofy pointed out.

"Jasmine!" Aladdin cried out desperately, but we had to grab him and pull him with us so he wouldn't be left behind. We flew back, thanks to Carpet and me, and regrouped back at Aladdin's home. "So, Jasmine's no longer in Agrabah. Sora, Shadow, let's go find her."

"Sorry. We can't take you with us," I said.

"Wh-why not?" Aladdin stammered.

"I sure wish we could…" Goofy mumbled.

"But we can't. If we take him to another world, we would be…" Donald started to say, trailing off.

"Muh…Mudd-" Goofy struggled to find the right word.

"Meddling!" Donald snapped at him.

"Aladdin, we'll find Jasmine. We promise," Sora and I assured him.

"Uh, earth to Al," Genie said to him. "Hello? You still have one wish left. Look, just say the word. Ask me to find Jasmine for you."

"I…I wish…for your freedom, Genie," Aladdin said.

"Al!" Genie gasped, and his tail was replaced with legs and his cuffs on his wrists vanished.

"A deal's a deal, Genie," Aladdin reminded him. "Now, you can go anywhere you want. You're your own master. But if you can, it'd be great if you could go along with them and help Sora and Shadow find Jasmine."

"Hmm. Sorry, Al. I'm done taking orders from others," Genie said, sounding regretful. "But…A favor, now that's entirely different. I guess I could give that a try. After all, we're pals, right, Al?"

"Genie…" Aladdin murmured.

"Just leave it to me!" Genie said determinedly. We gained a summon for Genie, and Aladdin gave us the Three Wishes keychain for the Keyblade.

"Sora, Shadow, please find Jasmine for me," Aladdin pleaded. We nodded to him, and assured him once more that we would find her. We left for the Gummi Ship, and off to the next world.


	9. Chapter 9

A/N: Okay, here's chapter 9, sooner than I said before, hehe. Enjoy~

Disclaimer: I own nothing but Shadow and Kurai.

Aw, Man! Swallowed By Monstro!

While we were traveling on the Gummi Ship, we saw a huge whale pass by.

"What is that?" Donald wondered.

"Wow, it's huge!" Sora gasped as the whale passed by the Gummi Ship.

"It's a giant whale!" Goofy realized.

"It's Monstro!" Jiminy told us. "He's a whale of a whale, and vicious besides!" Monstro circled back around.

"Whoa! Sora, Shadow, get us out of here!" Donald cried out.

"Too late! He's going to swallow us!" I wailed, and Monstro swallowed the Gummi Ship, the five of us inside it. Sora and I shared a dream while passed out, one that went back to when Sora and Riku were younger, and Kurai and I were still new to their world.

"It's true! I saw it with my own eyes!" Sora had insisted to Riku.

"You sure you didn't just hear it this time?" Riku had asked doubtfully.

"What difference does it make? There's a huge monster in there, we swear!" Sora had continued, and I had snickered.

"All right. Suppose there really is a monster…Think we can beat it by ourselves, Sora and Shadow?" Kurai had asked.

"No problem. Let's do it!" Sora had said, and we had gotten near the cave that soon became our Secret Place. "Listen! There! Can you hear it growling?"

"Shh, quiet. We've gotta be careful," Riku had cautioned us. We had entered the cave, and Kurai and I had laughed.

"See that? It was just the wind making noise," I had told them.

"Aw, man! I wish it was a monster!" Sora had complained, looking disappointed, but then we saw the door. "Hold on! What's that over there?"

"A window, or maybe a door?" Riku had guessed. "It won't open."

"Geez, is that really all that's in here?" Sora had muttered.

"What do you expect in a boring place like this?" Riku and Kurai had replied. "Hey, Sora and Shadow."

"Hm?" we had said.

"When we grow up, let's get off this island," Riku had suggested. "We'll go on real adventures, not this kid stuff!"

"Sure," we had agreed easily. "But isn't there anything fun to do now? Hey, you know the new girl at the mayor's house?" The dream ended with that, and we started to come to. Donald was waiting impatiently for us to wake up.

"Knock it off!" Donald snapped at us, and we got to our feet. I jumped onto Sora's shoulder.

"Hey, Sora and Shadow. Are you okay?" Goofy asked us.

"What are you guys doing? Where are we, anyway?" I asked. Suddenly, an item dropped down from above, and it narrowly missed hitting Sora and me.

"Uh, ya know, I think that big ol' whale Monstro just swallowed us," Goofy told us. "And for today's weather: expect showers." Another item dropped, this time on Goofy, but it bounced off of his shield as he held it over his head. "Heavy showers!"

"Hey! Who's there?" Donald demanded suddenly, and out from the shadows came Pinocchio.

"It's me," he said as he came out.

"Oh, it's just Pinocchio. Pinocchio?!" Donald yelped. Pinocchio started to walk away with an item he had found, and Jiminy jumped up onto my back.

"Pinocchio? Pinocch, where are you going? Pinocch!" Jiminy called after him, but he didn't respond as he disappeared into the depths of Monstro. "Come on, everybody! After him! Quick!" We ran after him, closing in on a shipwreck. We found Pinocchio with an older man in the shipwreck, and he was showing the man a big block.

"What have you got there, Pinocchio?" the man asked.

"With this, we can get out of here, Father," Pinocchio told him, and I knew that that must have been Geppetto, Pinocchio's father.

"Really? With this big block? You think so?" Geppetto asked him, and we came in.

"It's true," Sora confirmed, and turned to Pinocchio. "So, how did you end up here, Pinocchio?"

"Oh, my," Geppetto murmured in surprise. "So the whale swallowed all of you, too? My goodness."

"Yeah, looks like it," I muttered, and almost retched from the stench of Monstro's stomach.

"My name is Geppetto," Geppetto told us, confirming my thoughts. "I'm Pinocchio's father. When we got separated, I traveled all over, looking for him. Thank goodness we're together again." He moved the large green block that Pinocchio had found. "So, you seem to know Pinocchio quite well. I hope he was a good boy in my absence. Well, we've all had quite a journey. Right, Pinocchio? Pinocchio?" But Pinocchio wasn't there. We took off into the first chamber of Monstro's stomach, and found Pinocchio.

"What are you doing? Come on, let's go back," Sora told him.

"You know, Geppetto's awfully worried about you," Goofy added.

"Pinocchio, stop fooling around! This is no time for games!" I snapped. We grabbed him and tried to leave with him, but before we could go back, Riku and Kurai stepped out from the shadows.

"But, Sora and Shadow, we thought you liked games," they taunted. "Or are you too cool to play them now that you have the Keyblade and light?"

"Riku! Kurai! Wh-what are you doing here?" Sora stammered.

"Just playing with Pinocchio," they said calmly.

"You know what we mean! What about Kairi? Did you find her?" Sora asked.

"Maybe. Catch us and maybe we'll tell you what we know," Riku taunted.

"Come on!" I said, frustrated with him. They turned tail and ran, grabbing Pinocchio by the arm and running further into Monstro. We ran after them, and found Riku and Kurai in the sixth chamber.

"Riku, Kurai! What's the matter with you? What are you thinking? Don't you realize what you're doing?" Sora demanded.

"I was about to ask you both the same thing, Sora and Shadow," Kurai told us. "You both only seem interested in running around and showing off that Keyblade and light these days. Do you even want to save Kairi?"

"We do," we said simultaneously. We proceeded to the Bowels, where Pinocchio was trapped inside a Parasite Cage Heartless.

"You up for this?" Riku and Kurai asked.

"No problem. Let's do this!" we said.

"Hmph," they replied, sounding a bit miffed. We fought the Heartless, the five of us, and swiftly defeated it. After the fight, Parasite Cage dropped Pinocchio and fled, dropping the wooden boy into a pit. Riku and Kurai jumped in after him, and we followed suit, ending up back in the Mouth. In there, we heard Geppetto crying out desperately.

"Pinocchio! Pinocchio! Please! Give me back my son!" he begged Riku and Kurai. Riku was holding Pinocchio, who was unconscious, while Kurai perched calmly on his shoulder.

"Sorry, old man. I have some unfinished business with this puppet," Riku said coldly.

"He's no puppet! He's my little boy!" Geppetto protested.

"He is unusual," Kurai admitted. "Not many puppets have hearts. I'm not sure, but maybe he can help someone who's lost theirs."

"Wait a minute. Are you talking about Kairi?" Sora demanded of our friends.

"What do you care about her?" Riku snapped at us, and I jerked my head back as though I'd been slapped. Riku and Kurai took off, running into the Throat with Pinocchio. We ran after them, but got sucked into the Stomach. When we caught up to them, Sora and I confronted the pair.

"Hey, let Pinocchio go, guys," I pleaded softly.

"A puppet that's lost its heart to the Heartless…Maybe it holds the key to helping Kairi. How about it, Sora and Shadow? Let's join forces to save her. We can do it, together," they offered, but Sora readied his Keyblade, and I bared my fangs at them both. "What? You'd rather fight us? Over a puppet that has no heart?"

"Heart or no heart, at least he still has a conscience," I snapped.

"Conscience?" Riku repeated.

"You might not hear it, but right now it's loud and clear. And it's telling us you're on the wrong side!" we yelled at him.

"Then you leave us no choice," Kurai said, and his expression was cold.

"Pinocchio! Pinocchio!" Jiminy cried out, and the boy came to, but he looked like he was in bad shape.

"Jiminy…I'm not gonna make it," Pinocchio mumbled, but his nose grew longer and he looked fine. "Oh! I guess I'm okay!" Jiminy jumped up and down with joy, but suddenly, the Parasite Cage Heartless appeared again, dropping down from above. We fought and defeated Parasite Cage, but while we fought, I noticed Riku and Kurai dropped Pinocchio and disappeared through a dark portal. Upon the Parasite Cage's defeat, we were forced to run back to the Gummi Ship because Monstro was about to sneeze us out.

"Run!" Donald yelled.

"Riku! Kurai! Guys, where are you?" Sora called out for him, but we had to leave, and I told Sora later what happened to our friends. Once on board the Gummi Ship again, Monstro sneezed us out, and we were free.

"I sure hope Pinocchio and Geppetto are okay," Goofy said as we traveled.

"Yeah, hopefully they landed safely somewhere," Donald agreed.

"Riku…" Sora murmured, and I whimpered softly with sympathy as I thought about Kurai. Sora and I had such a strong bond through our hearts that we felt a lot of the same emotions together. If he was upset, I was, too. I was already upset about Kurai, anyway, and Sora's own emotions just amplified my own feelings. Anyway, we traveled to Traverse Town, and entered a new house. Inside, Pinocchio and Geppetto were gathered around a small table.

"Pinocchio?" I yelped.

"Hey, it's Sora and Shadow!" he said cheerfully.

"Well, hello, Sora and Shadow!" Geppetto said in greeting.

"How did you get here?" I asked.

"A man named Leon helped us," Geppetto explained. "He even got us this house to live in. I don't know how I'll ever repay his kindness. Say, I hear you four are fighting the Heartless. I thought I might be able to help you, so I made this." He gave us an item called 'Geppetto.'

"For us?" Sora asked, surprised.

"But of course! Pinocchio and I can't thank you enough!" he said enthusiastically. "We'll do anything we can to help you."

"Thanks!" I said gratefully. And with that, we left for the next world.


	10. Chapter 10

A/N: Chapter 10 be here now! Enjoy~

Disclaimer: I own nothing but Shadow and Kurai.

Wow, Fins, Tails, And Gills? Atlantica, What Else Can I Say?

As we flew to the next world, called Atlantica, Donald got our attention.

"Okay, guys. Prepare for landing," he told us.

"Land where? In the sea? We'll drown!" Sora pointed out, and I nodded in fervent agreement.

"Not with my magic, we won't. Just leave it to me," Donald replied. When we appeared in the world, we were all underwater, Sora as a merman, Donald's bottom half being that of an octopus, and Goofy was a sea turtle. I, on the other hand, looked the same, only I could breathe underwater instead of holding my breath like I normally had to. A mermaid passed by us from where we were in the shadows, and a crab swam after her a bit more slowly. A brightly-colored fish tailed the mermaid.

"Come on, Sebastian!" the mermaid called to him.

"Ariel, wait! Slow down! Don't leave me behind!" the crab, apparently Sebastian, cried out. Suddenly, he freaked out as soon as he saw Donald, who was furthest out from the shadows. The mermaid and fish swam back over to us.

"Relax, Sebastian. They don't look like one of them. Right, Flounder?" she asked the fish, obviously Flounder.

"I don't know. There's something weird about them," Flounder admitted, and Sora laughed nervously; I chuckled, but it was still a nervous sound.

"What do you mean?" he asked.

"They do seem…a little different," the mermaid agreed. "Where are you from?"

"We're from kind of far away. And we're not really used to these waters," Sora answered, dodging around the question, and he laughed nervously again.

"Oh, I see," she replied, and looked thoughtful. "In that case…Sebastian can show you how we swim around here."

"Ariel, King Triton will not like this!" Sebastian protested.

"Oh, don't worry," Ariel said dismissively.

"Easy for you to say…" Sebastian muttered, and turned to us. "Okay, it's time you learn how to swim properly. Practice swimming with Flounder. Try to tag him. All right. Begin." We practiced swimming, and I felt almost like one of my friends from my home world. "Good job. Now let's move on to self-defense."

"Sebastian!" Ariel yelled, and suddenly, Heartless appeared.

"Class is over. Good luck!" Sebastian cried out, and he and Flounder hid inside of a clamshell while Ariel swam for safety. Sora, Donald, Goofy, and I swam about, fighting the Heartless until they were gone. Ariel swam back over as Sora struck the clamshell with the Keyblade to free Sebastian and Flounder.

"Those creatures chased us here," Ariel explained.

"Oh, no! Those monsters might be heading for the palace, too!" Sebastian wailed.

"We'd better head back right away!" Ariel agreed urgently.

"But, wh-what if we run into more on our way back?" Flounder asked nervously.

"I'm sorry, but we need your help," Ariel told us. "Please come to the palace with us. The trident markers on the walls point the way there. We won't get lost as long as we follow them. Okay, let's get going." We left for the throne room, but once inside, we were suddenly being chased by Heartless. Out of nowhere, however, a lightning bolt struck the Heartless, destroying them. A large merman with a crown on his head swam over.

"That was too close. As long as I have my trident, I will not tolerate those creatures inside this palace," he said.

"Daddy!" Ariel said in surprise.

"Oh, Ariel! When will you listen? It's dangerous out there!" he chastised her. She opened her mouth to respond, but her father cut her off. "Strange creatures lurk outside."

"Behold," Sebastian said to us, clearing his throat. "You swim before the ruler of the seas: His Majesty, King Triton."

"And who are they?" Triton asked suspiciously.

"They helped us fight off those creatures," Ariel explained.

"They don't look familiar," Triton said.

"We're from an ocean very far away," Sora said quickly, and I nodded.

"Yup. We came to find the Keyhole," Goofy added.

"The what?" Triton said, and I got the feeling he knew what we were talking about.

"What's that?" Ariel asked.

"Well, it's a-" Goofy started to say, but Triton cut him off.

"There's no such thing. Certainly not here," he insisted.

"But, Daddy…" Ariel murmured.

"Ariel, not another word!" Sebastian said sternly.

"You are not to leave the palace. Is that clear?" Triton ordered her, and she frowned as we left Triton's Throne. Outside, Ariel told us something.

"Come to my grotto. I want to show you something," she said, and we followed her to a hidden grotto. "There it is. See?" We swam inside, and saw a collection of things that humans use.

"Look at all the wonderful things Flounder and I've collected," she said, and sighed with happiness. "I think it's all from the outside world. Someday, I'm going to see what's out there. I want to see other worlds. Does that sound strange?"

"No. Not at all. We used to feel the same way," Sora and I told her.

"Used to?" she asked, picking up on that.

"We mean…we still do," we assured her.

"Hey, why don't we try looking for that Keyhole you were talking about?" she asked suddenly.

"But your father said-" I tried to say, but she interrupted me.

"Oh, he just treats me like a little girl," she scoffed. "He never wants to let me do anything. He just…He just doesn't understand." We swam with the dolphins to a shipwreck where we found a crystal trident. "Hm. Its shape reminds me of something." We swam back to the grotto and found a slot to place the crystal trident in where it was a perfect fit. Suddenly, we heard King Triton's booming voice sound near us.

"Ariel, you've disobeyed me again!" he yelled. "I told you not to leave the palace!" He saw the crystal trident and furiously struck lightning on it from his trident.

"Daddy, no!" Ariel shrieked, but the crystal trident was shattered. "How could you…?" She swam away, looking extremely upset. Once she was gone, Triton rounded on us.

"Young man and beast, you're not from another ocean," he said firmly. "You're both from another world. Aren't you? Then you must be the key and light bearers."

"How did you know?" I demanded.

"You may fool Ariel, but you can't fool me," he snapped. "You don't know your dorsal fin from your tail. As the key and light bearers, you must already know…One must not meddle in the affairs of other worlds."

"Of course we know that, but…" Sora tried to protest.

"You have violated this principle. The key and light bearers shatter peace and bring ruin," he said coldly.

"Aw, Sora and Shadow aren't like that," Goofy tried to assure Triton.

"I thank you for saving my daughter. But there is no room in my ocean for either of you or your key and light," Triton said. After that cold statement, Triton left us, but later, after a quick regroup, we swam back to Triton's Palace. Inside, we swam into Triton's Throne Room, and in there, we saw a sea witch cackling as she seized the trident.

"The trident is mine!" she cackled, and turned to Ariel. "And I couldn't have done it without your help, my dear."

"Ursula, no! I didn't want this!" Ariel wailed.

"Why not? Aren't you tired of following your dear daddy's orders?" she taunted. "Oh, yes. We had a deal, didn't we? Time for a little journey—to the dark world of the Heartless!" Two eels swam over to her at that moment.

"We cannot find the Keyhole," one of them said.

"The Keyhole is not here," the other added.

"What?" Ursula demanded in disbelief, but then we arrived on the scene, ready to fight her. "Why, we have company. I'm afraid you're both a little late, handsome and lizard!" And with that, Ursula disappeared.

"Daddy!" Ariel cried out, and swam over to Triton, who was in bad shape.

"The trident…We must get it back," Triton growled through his teeth.

"Come on, let's go!" I said.

"Wait, I'm going with you!" Ariel said firmly. "My father is hurt and it's all my fault. I have to stop Ursula!" We nodded in agreement as Sebastian swam over.

"That's right. I'm behind you, Ariel," he told her.

"Ursula draws power from her cauldron," Triton informed us. "To defeat Ursula, you must strike her cauldron with magic." We swam as fast as we could to the Sunken Ship, where we examined a boulder.

"Need some help? I'll show you how it's done," Sebastian said, and pushed a switch we couldn't reach. We swam into the Den of Tides, and then into Ursula's Lair. Inside, Ursula was just about to come out of her hiding spot.

"Come out! You can't run!" Donald yelled at her.

"Your time has come!" Sebastian added. Suddenly, Ursula terrified us with a horrifying frown, and when we had regrouped back together, we fought Ursula, Flotsam, and Jetsam, the sea witch using her two pet eels to harm us. They would attempt to wrap around us, and then Ursula would try to strike us while ensnared by the eels. We darted this way and that, dodging her attacks and the eels, and eventually struck a final blow to each of them. Once defeated, Flotsam and Jetsam fled into the shadows.

"You'll pay for this!" Ursula declared, and she swam away as fast as she could.

"Let's go. We must get the trident back," Ariel said determinedly. We learned the Mermaid Kick ability, and we used that in the Calm Depths. Using that ability, we were able to fight the swift current through to a new area. In there, we saw Ursula, and she was furious.

"You pathetic fools! I rule the sea now!" she shrieked at us, and used the power of the trident to grow bigger and more powerful. "The sea and all its spoils bow to my power!" We fought against Ursula, and I exercised my Blizzara magic use by shooting spears of ice at Ursula. Sora and I dealt the final blow, striking her down. Once defeated, Ursula disappeared, and we regained the trident. We left back for Triton's Throne, and gave the trident back to Triton.

"Daddy, I'm so sorry," she murmured to him.

"Please don't be angry with her," I pleaded.

"It's my fault," Triton admitted. "You followed Ursula because…I wouldn't let you follow your heart. And when you found that crystal, I lost my temper and destroyed it."

"Oh, yeah, the crystal! Why did you destroy it?" Goofy asked, and we all remembered.

"That crystal held the power to reveal the Keyhole," Triton explained. "The Keyhole is dangerous. I had to keep you away from it at any cost. "

"Daddy…" Ariel murmured.

"Key and light bearers, I have one more request: Seal the Keyhole," Triton begged. "My trident also holds the power to reveal the Keyhole. Will you do it?"

"Of course," we agreed easily. "That's what we had in mind from the start."

"Where is the Keyhole, Daddy?" Ariel asked.

"You should know better than anyone. It's in your grotto," he told her simply.

"Really…" Goofy murmured. "Sora, Shadow, let's go." We left for Ariel's Grotto, and Sora and my Thunder spell was upgraded to Thundara, and we also got Ansem's Report 3. When we arrived, Ariel used the trident on the trident symbol we had first placed the crystal trident in, and the Keyhole was revealed. Upon seeing the Keyhole, Sora's Keyblade appeared and my claws glowed, and we locked Atlantica from the Heartless forever. Once finished, Ariel turned to Sora and me.

"Tell me, Sora and Shadow. Your world, what's it like?" she asked us.

"Oh, about that…Sorry for lying to you," we apologized.

"It's okay. Besides, if you can travel to other worlds, maybe I can, too," she said easily, and swam up to an area with light shining down through a hole in the grotto. "So many places I want to see…I know I'll get there someday. I'll find a way somehow. I'm sure of it."

"Well, if you find it, do me a favor and leave me out of it," Sebastian told her. Later, Ariel gave us a Crabclaw keychain for the Keyblade, and then we left for the next world. I relished in being on solid ground again, and I think my friends did, too.

A/N: What did you think? Let me know, please! More reviews make me happy!


	11. Chapter 11

A/N: Chapter 11! Almost done, just 4 more chappies to go! Enjoy~

Disclaimer: I own nothing but Shadow and Kurai.

Whoa, Halloween Town Sure Is A Spooky Place! But Then Again, It Makes Sense…

The next world, called Halloween Town, gave us a spooky look for each of us. When we landed, Donald looked like a mummy, Goofy like a Frankenstein monster, and Sora like a vampire, almost. I only had little orange jack-o-lanterns etched into my armor, but that made sense, seeing as I could be seen as intimidating.

"This sure is a spooky place," Goofy said nervously. "I'll bet the people here are scary-lookin', too."

"Don't worry. We look spooky, too," Donald assured him. "If they scare us, we'll scare them right back!"

"You think so?" Goofy asked, looking skeptical. We walked into the town, where several ghosts were floating about, but they ignored us. Someone who looked like the Mayor, who looked literally two-faced, began to speak.

"And now, allow me to introduce the master of terror, the king of nightmares—Jack Skellington!" he announced, and a very tall, very thin, skeletal-looking guy rose out from the well. "Bravo, Jack! Bravo! Those ghosts will be a big hit at this years Halloween!"

"Thank you, thank you!" Jack said gratefully. "But their movement still needs work. It's not scary enough. I want to strike bone-chilling terror. I'm going to consult the doctor." And with that, Jack left to a lab that looked like it came straight from a science-fiction movie.

"Then I'll go attend to the decorations," the Mayor said simply, and left. We walked into the Lab, and there we listened in on Jack and the doctor's conversation.

"I don't understand," Jack was saying to the doctor. "Maybe the guidance system was damaged in the explosion."

"Nonsense. My devices are always perfect!" the doctor snapped at him.

"Oh, I've got it! Why of course!" Jack said in realization. "The Heartless need a heart! Doctor, do you think we can add a heart to that device?"

"Certainly. A heart's not all that complicated," the doctor assured him. "Let's get to work."

"To make a heart, first take a container with a lock…" Jack murmured, and examined a heart with a Keyhole in it.

"We need the key to this thing first!" the doctor snapped. We arrived on the scene, walking inside.

"You're really gonna unlock it for them?" Donald asked us in disbelief.

"Why not? If they succeed, we won't have to fight the Heartless, right?" Sora assumed. "Besides, I want to see the Heartless dance, too. Don't you?" I snickered.

"Not really," Donald muttered. Sora tried to use the Keyblade to shoot a beam at the keyhole, but nothing happened when Sora pointed it at the keyhole.

"My! That was amazing!" Jack said to us as the light in my claws dimmed slightly. "Uh, and you are…?"

"Sora and Shadow," we told him.

"Well done, Sora and Shadow! I'd like you two to be a part of this year's Halloween," Jack told us.

"These Heartless came to town just recently," Jack explained. "What's frustrating is that I can't get them to dance with me. So the doctor and I are trying to improve the guidance system. He's quite a genius!" He turned to the doctor. "Okay, Doctor, let's continue. The ingredients for a heart: Pulse. Emotion. Terror. Fear. Hope and despair. Mix them all together, and we have a heart!" The Doctor moved his electronic wheelchair to the lever nearby and pulled it, activating the device, but it failed.

"It failed!" Jack exclaimed.

"Maybe we're missing some ingredients. Let's try adding memory," the doctor suggested, and opened a lid on his head, exposing his brain, and scratched at it. "Sally! Sally! Good-for-nothing girl! Don't know why I bothered creating her!" He closed the lid to his brain. "Sally's got the memory we need. See if you can track her down."

"No problem. Sora, Shadow, would you like to come along?" Jack asked us.

"Sure," we said easily, and left outside. Outside, the Mayor ran over to us in a panic.

"Jack! Jack! We have a major crisis! The Heartless are completely out of control!" The Mayor wailed. "We can't stop them!"

"Hmm…Maybe our experiment triggered something," Jack murmured. "Everything will be fine, Mayor. You have nothing to worry about." And with that, we were led to the Graveyard by Jack. Suddenly, Heartless appeared.

"Let's check this place, too, once the Heartless here are out of our way," I said, and we leapt into action, swiftly defeating the Heartless. After they were gone, a ghost dog flew over to us.

"Zero! Have you seen Sally anywhere?" Jack asked him, and Zero led us over to where Sally was.

"Is something wrong, Jack?" she asked him.

"No, everything's going great," Jack assured her. "We're going to have the best Halloween ever. All we need now is your memory."

"'Memory?' You mean this?" she asked, and gave us a 'Forget-Me-Not.' "Jack, I have a bad feeling about this. Why don't you try something else? There's still time."

"Nothing could beat what I've got planned!" Jack said enthusiastically. "Once we give the Heartless a heart, they'll dance just as I envision it. Trust me. You're going to love it!" We left with Sally back to town from the Graveyard, and met up with Doctor Finkelstein in his lab. Inside, we showed the doctor the Forget-Me-Not, and he nodded approvingly.

"Yes. This is it," he confirmed. "Now, just one more ingredient. We need 'surprise' to complete the heart. The Mayor should know where it is." We left for the Boneyard, and found the Mayor there. As we approached, he noticed us and we asked him where 'surprise' would be.

"Ghosts rise from those tombstones. Check the tombstones in the order the ghosts appear. If you get it wrong, you're in for a surprise!" he told us. We did as he had instructed, and once finished, there was an explosion from behind us. I jumped about a foot in the air upon hearing it because I had NOT expected that. "Splendid! Now go look at the pumpkin." We examined the destroyed pumpkin and found a Jack-in-the-Box, and brought that back to Doctor Finkelstein.

"Yes. This is it," the doctor told us. After he had gathered the rest of the ingredients, he turned to us. "There you go. This time it's sure to work."

"Ya!" a little voice cried out, and a kid swung in on a rope and snatched up the heart. Two other kids waited for him outside, and they all three fled once they were together. We ran outside after them, but they were gone.

"Aw! We lost them!" Sora groaned, but Jack called Zero.

"Zero, after them, quick!" he ordered his pet, and I helped Zero to track them down. As we ran, we learned the three kids were called Lock, Shock, and Barrel. As we left town, we spotted them fleeing in a walking tub, and we followed them to a manor. Once we got close to the manor, Jack said, "I knew Oogie Boogie was behind this!"

"Who's that?" I asked.

"A bag of bugs that loves to gamble," Jack explained. We ran into an area called the Evil Playroom, and there we fought the three pranksters. Once they were beaten, they huddled in a corner as we confronted them.

"We were just following orders!" Shock squealed. "Oogie Boogie told us to steal the heart! It's all Barrel's fault! It was his idea to tell Oogie Boogie about the heart."

"Yeah, that's right!" Lock agreed.

"B-but you guys said-" Barrel tried to protest.

"You should be ashamed!" Shock scolded. We cranked a lever that revealed the entrance to the Torture Chamber, and made our way inside. Inside, we confronted Oogie Boogie.

"Oogie Boogie, give me back the heart!" Jack ordered him.

"You want it? Well, then come on over and get it!" Oogie taunted, and swallowed the heart before we could do anything. "Now, let's see if I can get their attention. Oh, Heartless!" he called out, but only two Heartless appeared to aid him. "This is it? Nobody disrespects me! Nobody!" We soon fought Oogie, and defeated him without much effort. Once defeated, Oogie's body began to empty of all of his bugs.

"So, that heart was a failure after all," Jack murmured. We left outside, receiving Ansem's Report 7, but once outside, the ground shook as Oogie's Manor began to grow in size and turned into a fighting manor.

"Whoa! How'd he get so big?!" I yelped.

"Look!" Jack yelled, and pointed at the windows of the manor. "It's brimming with the power of darkness! Oogie Boogie is drawing power from those dark globs!"

"So we just have to destroy those things, right?" Sora demanded, and Jack nodded. We fought against Oogie's Manor, swiftly defeating the building and reducing it to nothing. Once it was gone, a Keyhole appeared in the ground where it had stood, and Sora and I used our powers to lock this world from the Heartless forever. Later, we met back up with everyone in the research lab, and spoke with everyone.

"Sally, why didn't I listen to you?" Jack asked her, looking ashamed.

"Don't feel bad, Jack. We'll come up with another plan for Halloween," she told him, and held his hands. "Next time, we'll do it together." Later, Jack came over to us with a keychain in one of his hands.

"I guess we have no choice. We'll have to cancel the Heartless Halloween festival for now. Here, I want you two to have this," he told us, and handed us the Pumpkinhead keychain. "Visit us anytime, Sora and Shadow. Next year's Halloween will be the scariest ever!" And with that, we thanked everyone, bid them farewell, and left for the Gummi Ship and off to the next world.

A/N: Chapter 12 will be up soonly, I promise! In the meantime, R&R, everyone!


	12. Chapter 12

A/N: Chapter 12 is here at last! Enjoy~

Disclaimer: I own nothing but Shadow and Kurai.

Why Are Pirates Attacking Us? And What's Riku's Deal?

As we sailed to the next world, I was just absently staring out the window when I noticed a ship sailing closer to us. I yelped in shock when I realized it was a pirate ship.

"Uh, a big ship is catching up to us," Goofy told Sora and Donald.

"Quit gawking! That's a pirate ship!" Donald yelled. It got closer and closer with each second, and we all braced ourselves as it approached.

"It's going to ram us! Hold on tight!" Sora yelled, and we all blacked out when the ship hit us. When we came to, I realized we were in a place called Neverland, and we were on board the pirate ship. Unfortunately, we were separated from Donald and Goofy. I bolted to my feet, snarling and bristling with fear, and realized Sora and I were surrounded by pirates. Sora sat up and got to his feet, alerted by my snarling. Suddenly, a pair of familiar voices stopped me.

"We didn't think you'd come, Sora and Shadow," Riku and Kurai told us, and we gasped in horror. "Good to see you two again."

"Where are Donald and Goofy?" Sora demanded.

"Are they that important to you?" he asked coldly. "More important than old friends? Instead of worrying about them, you should be asking…about her." Riku pointed nearby behind himself to reveal Kairi, and she looked like she was in terrible shape. She seemed to be staring into nothing, but I knew there was going to be no response from her if we tried to call her.

"Kairi!" we gasped.

"That's right. While you two were off goofing around, we finally found her," Kurai said smugly. We tried to get to Kairi, but the pirate captain blocked us with his left arm that ended in a hook.

"Not so fast. No shenanigans aboard my vessel, boys," the captain warned. We realized we were surrounded by pirates, the captain, and several Heartless.

"Riku, Kurai, why are you siding with the Heartless?!" Sora demanded of our friends.

"The Heartless obey us now, Sora and Shadow. Now we have nothing to fear," they told us, but they almost said it as though they were in a trance.

"You're stupid!" I yelled. "Sooner or later they'll swallow your hearts!"

"Not a chance. Our hearts are too strong," Riku replied dismissively.

"Riku…" Sora murmured sadly.

"Kurai…" I growled.

"We've picked up a few other tricks as well. Like this, for instance," they added, and shadowy versions of Sora and me appeared before us. "You can go see your friends now." Suddenly, an invisible hatch opened beneath us and we fell into the Hold below deck without any warning. It happened so fast I didn't have time to open my wings and fly. We found Donald and Goofy nearby in the Hold, and in fact, Sora had landed on top of Donald. We explained what had happened.

"You don't say?" Goofy said, surprised.

"Yeah, it was definitely Kairi," Sora replied. "We've finally found her."

"All right! Then let's go up and talk to her," Goofy said eagerly.

"Yeah!" I agreed.

"Sounds great. Okay, but first…how about getting off!" Donald snapped at Sora.

"Oh, sorry," Sora apologized. We started to search for a way out when a boy in the Hold with us got our attention.

"Ahem! How ya doin' there? Looking for a way out?" he asked.

"Who are you?" Goofy asked.

"I'm the answer to your prayers," he told us, and I snickered. Donald tapped his foot as though he didn't believe the boy. "Okay, then. Fine. Have it your way."

"But you're stuck in here, too, aren't you?" I asked him, looking doubtful.

"No. I'm just waiting for someone," he told us.

"Who?" Sora asked. Suddenly, a glowing little figure flew in and landed in the boy's hands.

"Tinker Bell, what took you so long?" he asked the figure. She answered without a voice, instead making a slight tinkling sound, like that of a bell. I had no clue what she told the boy, but he obviously understood. "Great job. So you found Wendy?" She answered him with the bell sounds again. "Hold on. There was another girl there, too?" She nodded. "Are you crazy? There is no way I'm gonna leave Wendy there!"

"Aha. She must be pretty jealous," Donald guessed, and by Tinker Bell's reaction, he must have been right. Donald laughed as she flew over to him, but became dizzy when she kicked him in the mouth. She flew away, looking angry.

"Come on, Tink! Open up the door!" the boy said.

"Ahem!" Sora said, clearing his throat. The boy turned and looked at us.

"I'm Peter Pan," he said in introduction, and held out his hand as if to shake with us.

"We're Sora and Shadow," we told him, and Sora reached out to shake Peter's hand, but Peter pulled back.

"Okay, we're in this together, but only 'til we find Wendy," Peter said evenly. We found a way out, but while we were in the kitchen, Goofy finally broke the silence, and asked Peter a question I'd been dying to ask.

"So, uh, how come you can fly?" he asked Peter, seeing as the guy had been literally flying around us as we tried to sneak around.

"Anyone can fly. You wanna try?" Peter offered, and whistled for Tinker Bell, and she flew over to us. "Aw, haven't you cooled off yet, Tink?" Next thing I knew, they others were covered in dist that came from Tinker Bell's wings, and I spread my own wings. "Just a little bit of pixie dust. There. Now you can fly." Donald tried to jump in the air and flap his arms like a bird, but instead fell to the ground. Tinker Bell and I laughed at him as he tapped his fingers on the ground, looking irritated. Suddenly, Tink told Peter something.

"What is it, Tink?" he asked her. She answered, and a young girl's voice, maybe a bit older than Kairi by the sound of her, called out for Peter.

"Peter? Peter Pan?" the girl's voice called out.

"Wendy!" he cried out, and she heard him.

"Please hurry! The pirates are coming!" she wailed.

"What?! I'll be right up there! Just hold on!" he called to her.

"Yes?" she answered.

"Is there another girl in there with you?" he asked.

"Oh, why, yes," Wendy confirmed. "But she seems to be asleep. She hasn't budged an inch."

"Kairi? Kairi!" we yelled in a panic.

"Wendy! Hey, let's get up there!" Peter said urgently. We went up to the door where Wendy was heard from and tried to open it. "Wendy, are you in there?" The door was locked, and we didn't hear anything from inside, so I broke down the door. I smashed through it like a battering ram, and we got inside just in time to see Riku and Kurai carrying Kairi through a dark portal.

"Riku, Kurai, wait!" Sora and I cried out after him in desperation. Out of nowhere, the shadowed forms of Sora and me appeared before us, and we fought them off. We quickly fought and beat them, and then opened the hatch to where Wendy was.

"Wendy!" Peter gasped, but she was out cold. "Come on, Tink! Not now!" he said to her, and she flew away. Peter turned to us. "Well, this is as far as I can go. I've gotta help Wendy." He left, carrying Wendy, and we went outside onto the main deck of the ship. Outside, Captain Hook was waiting for us.

"Quite a codfish, that Riku and Kurai—running off with that girl without even saying goodbye," Hook growled.

"Run off where? Tell us, where did he go?" Sora and I demanded of Hook.

"To the ruins of Hollow Bastion, where Maleficent resides. But you won't be getting there," Hook informed us, and held up a lantern with Tinker Bell inside while we stared at him in horror. "Unless you intend to leave your little pixie friend behind?"

"No…" Sora and I whispered, and Sora's Keyblade disappeared, making the light in my claws vanish. Heartless suddenly surrounded us.

"Hand over the Keyblade and light and I'll spare your lives. Be glad I'm merciful, unlike the Heartless. So, which will it be? The Keyblade and light, or the plank?" Hook threatened, but we all heard a ticking sound and looked to see a crocodile swimming around in the waters beneath the plank. Hook began to panic at the mere sound of the ticking. "It's him! The crocodile that took me hand! Oh, Smee! He's after me other hand! I can't stay here!" He glared at the crocodile. "Go away! Oh, I can't stand the sight of him! Smee, you take care of them!" And with that, Hook left to his cabin. All of the pirates and the Heartless swarmed around us, herding us to the plank.

Right before Sora could jump, we heard Peter Pan call out, "Fly, Sora and Shadow! Just believe, and you can do it!" We jumped off, and before the crocodile could snap Sora up, I spread my wings and flew away as Sora began to fly along with me. Peter Pan darted in and snatched up the lantern with Tinker Bell in it as we created a distraction and released her. We flew over to Peter once she was free.

"Thanks, Peter," Sora said gratefully, and I nodded fervent agreement.

"Hey, don't mention it. You didn't think I'd leave you and Tink behind, did you?" he said easily as Smee ran away.

"You're all going down!" Sora told the Heartless, and we fought and beat them quite easily. After they were gone, Sora and I noticed Peter go and knock on the door to Captain Hook's cabin, and he had an impish look on his face.

"Is that you, Smee? Did you finish them off?" Hook called from inside.

"Aye, Captain. They walked the plank, every last one of them," Peter replied, sounding just like Smee. Hook walked out and Peter poked him in the back with his dagger, infuriating Hook.

"P-Peter Pan—blast you!" Hook stammered with rage.

"Ready to make a splash, you codfish?" Peter taunted. "Now it's your turn to walk the plank!" We fought Captain Hook, and he had some real expertise with his sword, nothing I'd ever seen before. He moved fast, too, but his speed was no match against mine. Once beaten, we knocked Hook into the water and the crocodile chased after Hook very quickly as Hook fled through the water. We received Ansem's Report 9 after the fight. Once it was over, everyone watched us, looking concerned as Sora and I thought about things.

"Uh, Kairi couldn't wake up, so maybe she's really lost her-" Goofy started to say, but Donald stopped him.

"Shh!" he snapped at Goofy.

"Sora, Shadow," Peter said, and we looked at him.

"I still can't believe it. I really flew. Wait 'til I tell Kairi. I wonder if she'll believe me. Probably not," Sora said in wonder.

"You can bring her to Neverland sometime," Peter offered. "Then she can try it herself."

"If you believe, you can do anything, right?" we said. "We'll find Kairi. We know we will. There's so much we want to tell her—about flying, the pirates, and everything else that's happened." Tinker Bell flew over to Peter Pan at that moment and began to tell him something.

"What's that, Tink? What about the clock tower? You say there's something there?" he translated. We flew off to the Clock Tower, where we found a clock that wasn't at 12:00. Sora used his Keyblade and me my claws to strike the minute hand to point up to 12. Once the clock began to chime, a Keyhole appeared, and Sora and I each shot a beam of light at it, locking this world and protecting it from the Heartless forever. After that, we regrouped with Wendy, Peter Pan, and Tinker Bell.

"Peter, are you really going back to Neverland?" Wendy asked him.

"Afraid so. But we can see each other any time. As long as you don't forget about Neverland, that is," Peter told her, and they held hands. Donald laughed as Tinker Bell became mad. Peter looked at her. "Oh, boy. She's getting' steamed again. Do me a favor. Look after her for me, will ya?"

"What?" I said, and then my question was answered when we learned how to summon Tinker Bell, gained the Fairy Harp keychain for the Keyblade, and learned the glide ability. And with that, we bid our friends farewell and left for the Gummi Ship.


	13. Chapter 13

A/N: Hope you like this chappy! Enjoy~

Disclaimer: I own nothing but Shadow and Kurai.

Hollow Bastion, Here We Come! Riku, Kurai, STOP!

We left for the next world, Hollow Bastion, and Sora and I remembered that this world was the one Leon and the others had lost, thanks to Maleficent. Once we arrived, we looked in shock and horror at the place, which looked like it was in ruins.

"Gawrsh, look at that!" Goofy gasped.

"We know this place…" Sora and I murmured.

"Hmm, that's strange," Goofy said.

"We wonder why…We feel this warmth inside, right here," we said, and pointed to our hearts.

"Aw, you're just hungry," Donald said dismissively.

"Hey, we're serious!" I snapped at him. Suddenly, we heard a guttural roar from a distance away, and we turned our heads to look towards the source.

"Let's go!" Sora said, and we took off to the source of the roar. When we arrived, we saw Riku, Kurai, and a badly injured beast lying on the ground before him.

"Stop!" Sora and I yelled at Riku and Kurai.

"So, you two finally made it," Riku taunted. "About time. We've been waiting for you. We've always been rivals, haven't we? You've both always pushed us as we've always pushed you."

"Riku…Kurai…" we murmured sadly.

"But it all ends here," Riku added coldly. "There can't be two Keyblade masters and two light masters."

"What are you talking about?" Sora demanded, bewildered. I cocked my head to the side, confused as well.

"Let the Keyblade and light choose…their true masters," Kurai explained, and suddenly, Sora's Keyblade vanished from his hand and reappeared in Riku's and the light in my claws died out, but then appeared at the tips of Kurai's own claws.

"Huh?" Donald gasped.

"What?!" Goofy yelped.

"Maleficent was right," Riku said smugly. "Neither of you has what it takes to save Kairi. It's up to us. Only the Keyblade and light masters can open the secret door…and change the world."

"But that's impossible. How did this happen?" Sora cried out, bewildered as I was about this. "We're the ones who fought our way here with the Keyblade and light!"

"You were just the delivery boys," Kurai taunted. "Sorry, your parts are over now. Here, go play hero with this." Riku tossed a wooden sword on the ground towards Sora and me, and the pair left. Sora kneeled to the ground, looking disappointed, and I whimpered quietly.

"Goofy. Let's go. We have to remember our mission," Donald reminded Goofy.

"Oh! Well, I know the king told us to follow the key and all…But…" Goofy mumbled as he remembered.

"Sora, Shadow, sorry," Donald muttered, and they left us. The beast that was injured tried to move, but groaned from his injuries.

"Hey, don't move. You're hurt," I told him.

"Why…Why did you…you come here?" he growled in between breaths. "I came to fight for Belle. And though I am on my own, I will fight. I won't leave without her. That's why I'm here." Sora picked up the wooden sword, and I nodded because I knew it was better than nothing.

"Us too. We're not gonna give up now," we told him, and I bristled, ready for action. "We came here to find someone very important to us." We went through a maze, Beast and I using our sheer strength to destroy the Heartless that tried to stop us, and turned the power on for the Castle Gates. Once inside the Entrance Hall, Beast and I bristled with warning.

"Be on your guard. They're close, I can feel it. Are you ready for them?" Beast warned us. Suddenly, he turned his head and we all saw a woman in a blue dress standing nearby. "Belle?" he said, but the woman turned into a Shadow Heartless, so it obviously wasn't Belle. Beast became furious and chased after the Heartless, leaving us behind. Out of nowhere, we heard Riku's voice.

"Quit while you can," he said, and he had an ice-cold tone of voice that shocked me. We looked to see Riku, Kurai, Donald, and Goofy standing before us.

"No. Not without Kairi," we told them determinedly. Riku and Kurai turned into more powerful-looking forms of themselves, and I glared.

"The darkness will destroy you both," Kurai tried to threaten.

"You're wrong, Riku and Kurai," we told him evenly. "The darkness may destroy our bodies, but it can't touch our hearts. Our hearts will stay with our friends. They'll never die!"

"Really…Well, we'll just see about that!" they scoffed, and used their dark powers to immobilize us. We couldn't budge, and Riku fired a dark ball of energy from his hand at us, while Kurai fired one from his jaws. We squeezed our eyes shut, ready for the end, but instead there was an explosion, and we opened our eyes to see Goofy standing before us with his shield up. We were dropped to the ground and able to move again.

"Sora and Shadow ain't gonna go anywhere!" Goofy yelled at the dumbfounded pair.

"You'd betray your king?" Kurai asked in disbelief.

"Not on your life! But I'm not gonna betray Sora and Shadow, either, 'cause they've become two of my best buddies after all we've been through together!" Goofy told him. "See ya later, Donald. Could ya tell the king I'm really sorry?"

"Hold on, Goofy! We'll tell him together," Donald said, and joined us. "Well, you know…All for one and one for all."

"I guess you're both stuck with us, Sora and Shadow," Goofy laughed.

"Thanks a lot…Donald, Goofy," we mumbled, looking down.

"How will you fight without a weapon?" Riku demanded.

"We know now that we don't need the Keyblade," we told him. "We've got better weapons. Our hearts."

"Your hearts?" they said skeptically. "What good will those weak little things do for you?"

"Although our hearts may be weak, they're not alone. They've grown with each new experience, and they've found homes with all the friends we've made," we explained. "We've become a part of their heart just as they've become a part of ours. And if they think of us now and then…if they don't forget us…then our hearts will be one." Sora readied his wooden sword and I unsheathed my claws and revealed my fangs. "We don't need a weapon. Our friends are our power!" Suddenly, the Keyblade Riku held disappeared from his hand and reappeared in Sora's, and the light in Kurai's claws faded and began to emanate from mine. We fought Riku and Kurai, and boy was it a tough fight. They had some impressive dark powers, but we utilized that against them with my light. Every dark attack they used, I used my light to absorb and reflect it back at them. Soon, we defeated the pair, and they reverted to how they normally looked and ran off. Beast joined us at that moment once Riku was out of sight.

"So, your hearts won this battle," he said when he saw the Keyblade and my light. After that, we searched for and found all of the pieces of the Heartless emblem to open a door with a heart crest on it. We dashed into the Castle Chapel, where we found Maleficent waiting for us.

"I'm afraid you're all too late," she sneered. "Any moment now, the final Keyhole will be unsealed. This world will be plunged into darkness. It is unstoppable."

"We'll stop it!" Sora and I retorted determinedly as Sora readied his Keyblade. "After coming this far, there's no way we're gonna let that happen!"

"You poor, simple fools. You think you can defeat me? Me, the mistress of all evil?" she demanded, and we fought Maleficent. She was certainly a handful, but we soon defeated her, but she retreated through a dark portal, and we gained Ansem's Report 5. We followed after her through the dark portal, and saw Maleficent walking forward while seriously injured from the fight. Out of nowhere, however, Riku appeared from behind us with a Keyblade, Kurai perched on his shoulder. Kurai's dark grey armor seemed dull and it looked like darkness was swirling beneath it.

"Do you need some help?" they asked.

"Riku! Kurai!" we gasped.

"Is that-" Donald began to ask, but Riku cut him off.

"Yes. A Keyblade. But unlike yours, this Keyblade holds the power to unlock people's hearts. Allow me to demonstrate…" he said, and thrust his Keyblade into Maleficent's heart. "Behold!"

"Wha-" Maleficent gasped.

"Now, open your heart, surrender it to the darkness!" Kurai ordered. "Become darkness itself!" Riku pulled the Keyblade out of her heart and vanished, leaving us to deal with Maleficent.

"This is it! This power! Darkness…The true darkness!" she gasped, and turned into a dragon. She was a full-blown dragon, black with green skin in between the bones of her wings. We fought her, and Sora and I used my light combined with the power of the Keyblade to finish her off. Once defeated, Maleficent's body began to melt and reduce to ash while the tree branches around her burned with green flames. Riku and Kurai returned, but showed no pity for her fate.

"How ironic. She was just another puppet after all," Kurai murmured.

"What?" Donald said, confused.

"The Heartless were using Maleficent from the beginning. She failed to notice the darkness in her heart eating away at her," Riku explained, and stepped on her corpse, and the remains vanished. "A fitting end for such a fool." The both of them vanished, leaving behind a gem called the Fireglow. We proceeded to the Grand Hall, where the Keyhole awaited us. Sora, Donald, and I walked into it, but something prevented Goofy from entering. Inside, we saw Kairi.

"Kairi!" we gasped. We ran over to her. "Kairi! Kairi! Open your eyes!"

"It's no use. That girl has lost her heart. She cannot wake up," Riku's and Kurai's voices said behind us. I bristled in warning as we glared at them.

"What? You…You're not Riku or Kurai," I growled, the sound rumbling deep in my chest.

"The Keyhole cannot be completed so long as the last princess of heart still sleeps," they informed us.

"The princess…? Kairi's a princess?" Sora said in disbelief as the person who looked like Riku and Kurai hovered in the air before us.

"Yes, and without her power, the Keyhole will remain incomplete. It is time she awakened," they replied.

"Whoever you are, let Riku and Kurai go! Give them back their hearts!" we ordered the person.

"But first, you must give the princess back her heart," they told us. Something in our hearts stirred, and we knelt in pain and clutched at our chests. I whimpered in pain as Sora groaned.

"Sora! Shadow!" Donald wailed.

"What's-" we growled through our teeth.

"Don't you see yet?" the person said. "The princess's heart is responding. It has been there all along. Kairi's heart rests within you both!"

"Kairi…Kairi's inside us?" we gasped in pain.

"We know all that there is to know," the fake Kurai said simply.

"Tell us. Who are you?" I demanded between gasps.

"It is I, Ansem, the seeker of darkness," the person finally answered. Donald tired to charge at Ansem, but Kurai shoved Donald out through the barrier, preventing him from reaching us. "So, I shall release you now, Princess. Complete the Keyhole with your power. Open the door, lead me into everlasting darkness!" Right as Ansem was about to strike us through Riku's and Kurai's bodies, we heard a voice come to us through our hearts.

"Sora! Shadow!" Kairi cried out in our minds. We snapped out of it and deflected the blow with the Keyblade and my tail.

"Forget it! There's no way you're taking Kairi's heart!" we shouted at him furiously. We fought Riku-Ansem and the fake Kurai, and defeated them with a new resolve for the both of us. This guy, Ansem, was quite powerful indeed, but I could feel through each blow he delivered that we blocked that he was having difficulty in controlling Riku's body as well as Kurai's. Sora dealt the final blow, and we defeated Riku-Ansem and the fake Kurai. Once beaten, Riku-Ansem dropped the dark Keyblade and disappeared.

"Riku! Kurai!" we yelled after him, but of course, there was no response. Donald and Goofy rejoined us.

"Sora, Shadow! Look!" Donald yelled, and pointed at the Keyhole.

"The…The Keyhole!" Goofy stammered. We tried to use our abilities on the Keyhole, but nothing happened. "It won't work! The Keyhole's not finished yet!"

"What can we do?" Sora wondered.

"Maybe we've gotta go wake Kairi up," Goofy suggested.

"We think your right. If we can free her heart…But…But how?" we murmured, and glanced at the dark Keyblade. Sora and I looked at each other and nodded. "A Keyblade that unlocks people's hearts…I wonder."

"Sora? Shadow?" Goofy said curiously as we approached the dark weapon. "Sora, Shadow, hold on!"

"No, wait!" Donald wailed, but we smiled at our friends as I placed myself in front of Sora's heart. I placed myself so we could both take the blow. Sora used the dark Keyblade and thrust it into us both, releasing Kairi's captive heart pieces within us. Our bodies lit up as we faded into darkness. As we fell through it, we thought to ourselves, 'What's…What's happening to us? Falling…falling…into darkness."

When we saw light again, it was only because we were now sharing one body, one mind. We watched our friends, but they didn't recognize us. I gasped mentally as I realized that we were sharing the body of a Shadow Heartless. We appeared with other Shadows, and they were surrounding Donald, Goofy, and Kairi, and it looked like Donald and Goofy were trying to make a plan of attack.

"What about the Keyhole?" Goofy said.

"Let's just get out of here!" Donald said urgently. We followed after them, running as fast as we could with awkward steps to catch up to our friends as they ran to the Entrance Hall. Inside, Kairi looked hesitant.

"Kairi, hurry!" Goofy told her.

"I can't leave them behind!" she protested.

"We can't stay here!" Donald told her.

"A Heartless is after us!" Goofy added.

"I'll take care of him!" Donald growled, and as we approached closer, he tried to attack us in our shared body.

"Confounded Heartless! Get lost, will ya?" Donald tried to order us, but instead of leaving, we tried to act like we would if we weren't a Heartless.

"Sora? Shadow? Is that you?" Kairi wondered, staring at us as though she could really see us.

"Uh-oh!" Goofy yelped in warning, and we were all suddenly surrounded by other Shadow Heartless. Donald and Goofy took their battle positions as we slipped over to Kairi.

"This time, I'll protect you," Kairi murmured, and as the other Shadows tried to get closer, Kairi embraced us.

"Kairi!" Goofy cried out. Suddenly, there was a bright light, and the Heartless were gone, and Sora and I were no longer sharing the body of a Shadow any longer; we were ourselves again. I stayed on Sora's shoulder as Sora embraced Kairi back.

"Kairi, thank you," we murmured to her.

"Sora…Shadow…" she whispered.

"Sora! Shadow!" Donald and Goofy cried out joyously. Out of nowhere, more Shadow Heartless appeared, but we heard a roar as Beast ran in.

"Go! Now!" he ordered us.

"Come with us!" Sora told him.

"I told you before, I'm not leaving without Belle! Now, go! The Heartless are coming!" he insisted.

"All right. Let's get out of here," I said, and we left for the Gummi Ship, and returned back to Traverse Town.


	14. Chapter 14

A/N: Okay, almost finished! One more chapter to go after this! Enjoy~

Disclaimer: I own nothing but Shadow and Kurai.

We're Almost To The End Of Our Journey…Let's Do It!

We left back for Traverse Town after saving Kairi and regaining our original selves, and met up with Leon and the others in the Small House.

"Tell me what happened," Leon told us, and we explained everything that had happened in Hollow Bastion, including about Maleficent, Riku and Kurai, what happened to Sora and me, and about how Kairi had saved us. "So the darkness is flowing out of the Keyhole…"

"No wonder there are more and more Heartless everywhere," Aerith murmured. "The only way to stop them is-"

"Seal the Keyhole, right?" I guessed.

"Maybe. But no one knows what will happen once it's sealed," Leon told us.

"Well, we can't just stay here," Sora said determinedly. "We have to do something. We've got a couple of friends back there."

"That's right. You both have two more friends to worry about," Leon said, remembering. "Riku's Keyblade must have been born of the captive princesses' hearts—just like that Keyhole you saw." He looked at Kairi. "Of course, without Kairi's heart, it remained incomplete. Once that Keyblade was destroyed, the princesses' hearts should have been freed. Don't worry, Sora and Shadow. If anyone can save your friends, you can." Later, while Donald and Goofy rested, Sora, Kairi, and I had a private chat in a nearby room.

"A light at the end of the tunnel…" she murmured.

"Oh, your grandma's story, right?" I asked. Sora and I had heard the story told to us during our journey by her grandma in a memory from Kairi's heart.

"That's right. We were together," she replied.

"You know what's funny? We looked everywhere for you, but you were with us all along. Finally, we're together, Kairi. Now, it's time to get Riku and Kurai back," Sora said.

"You think it'll ever be the same again between us?" Kairi wondered. "Riku and Kurai lost their…"

"When we turned into a Heartless, you saved us, remember?" we reminded her. "You brought us back.

"I didn't want to just forget about you two, Sora and Shadow. I couldn't," she murmured.

"That's it! Our hearts are connected. And the light from our hearts broke through the darkness. We saw that light. I think that's what saved us. No matter how deep the darkness, a light shines within. I guess that's more than just a fairy tale," I told my friends.

"Well, let's go," Kairi said, looking determined.

"You can't go," Sora told her, and I nodded.

"Why not?" she asked, looking confused.

"Because it's way too dangerous," I explained.

"Come on, Sora and Shadow. We made it this far by sticking together. You can't go alone," she chastised.

"Kairi, even if we're apart, we're not alone anymore. Right?" we told her.

"I can't help?" she pressed.

"You'd kind of be in our way," I laughed.

"Okay. You win," she said easily, and handed us a star charm made of shells. "Take this. It's my lucky charm. Be sure to bring it back to me."

"Don't worry. We will," we assured her.

"Promise?" she pressed.

"Promise," we said.

"Don't ever forget. Wherever you go, I'm always with you both," she told us, and we clipped the charm onto the Keyblade, turning it into the Oathkeeper Keyblade. We left Kairi, feeling regretful, and joined back up with Donald and Goofy. After regrouping, we boarded the Gummi Ship and left for Hollow Bastion. Once there, we made our way to the Rising Falls area. There, we met back up with Beast.

"Where's Belle?" I asked him.

"Still in the castle," he told us.

"Against her will?" Sora asked.

"No, I think she stayed for a reason," Beast explained. "The other princesses are inside as well."

"I wonder why?" Donald wondered aloud.

"Let's go ask them," I said, and Sora and I started to lead the way, but Beast stopped us.

"You may need my strength. I'll go with you," he said, and we left to the Library. Inside, Beast ran over to Belle when he saw her. "Belle!" The pair was reunited, and they embraced. After their reunion, Belle turned to us.

"You've come to seal the Keyhole, right?" she asked. "Please, be careful. The darkness is raging deep inside. We've been holding it back, but we can't hold out much longer."

"We'll take care of it," I assured her, and we went in further to meet with the other princesses inside the Castle Chapel. We spoke to Cinderella and Aurora first.

"We've been waiting for you, Keyblade and light masters," Cinderella said.

"Where's Ansem?" I demanded.

"Gone," she answered.

"When the Keyhole appeared, darkness poured out of it," Aurora added. "It swallowed Ansem, and he disappeared."

"Though Ansem is gone, the flood of darkness hasn't stopped," Cinderella said. "We're working together to hold it back."

"I cannot forget the look on his face," Aurora murmured. "As the darkness engulfed him, he was smiling." We went over to Jasmine, Alice, and Snow White, and spoke to them as well.

"Sora, Shadow, please hurry!" Jasmine begged. "Darkness is pouring from the Keyhole."

"It's all we can do just to hold back the darkness," Alice said, looking tired.

"I don't know how long we can manage even that," Snow White murmured.

"All right, we're on our way," Sora assured them.

"We're counting on you both, Keyblade and light masters," Snow White added. "In the meantime, we'll do what we can, too." Sora, Donald, Goofy, and I proceeded to the Dark Depths, where we fought against a Heartless called the Behemoth. Once we defeated it, we saw a Keyhole.

"Now let's go and seal that big Keyhole!" Goofy said determinedly.

"Sora. Shadow. You did it," Leon praised us when we got back to the Grand Hall. He wasn't alone; Aerith and Yuffie were with him.

"What are you guys doing here?" I asked in surprise.

"We came in Cid's ship," Yuffie said simply.

"This is our childhood home," Aerith added. "We wanted to see it again."

"It's in worse shape than I feared," Leon muttered. "It used to be so peaceful…"

"Don't worry. If we defeat Ansem, all should be restored," Aerith told us. "Including your island."

"Really?" we said in surprise. I thought something at that moment, and realized that I might be sent back to my world as well, but I wasn't ready. I gulped hard when I realized that.

"But, it also means goodbye," Yuffie added.

"Once the worlds are restored, they'll be separate again," Aerith explained.

"Everyone will go back to where they came from," Yuffie chimed in.

"Then we'll visit you guys with the Gummi Ship," Sora said simply.

"It's not that simple," Leon said, stopping that theory.

"Before all this, you didn't know about the other worlds, right?" Yuffie reminded us.

"Because every world was isolated. Impassable walls divided them," Aerith explained.

"The Heartless destroyed those walls. But if the worlds return, so will the walls," Yuffie added.

"Which means the Gummi Ships will be useless," Leon finished.

"So you're saying we'll never…?" I whimpered, trailing off. I didn't want to think about leaving my friends without them knowing what happened to me, but I knew the darkness needed to go.

"We may never meet again, but we'll never forget each other," Leon said wisely.

"No matter where we are, our hearts will bring us together again," Aerith chimed in.

"Besides, I couldn't forget you even if I wanted to," Yuffie laughed.

"What's that supposed to mean?" Sora demanded.

"Sora! Shadow!" Donald called to us.

"Hurry! Come and close the Keyhole!" Goofy added, and we started to leave, but paused to look back at our friends.

"Sora, Shadow, good luck," Leon told us, and we left back to the Dark Depths. Once back there, we used the Keyblade and light to emit energy at the Keyhole, sealing this world from the Heartless forever. After that, we went back to the Castle Chapel to see the princesses again.

"Thank you, Sora and Shadow. I think the darkness has begun to weaken," Alice said gratefully.

"But I can feel a powerful darkness growing somewhere far away," Jasmine murmured.

"It's the heart of the darkness. It must be where Ansem went," Aurora guessed.

"Then we'll take the Gummi Ship and deal with both Ansem and the Heartless," I told them.

"A worthy answer, Keyblade and light masters," Cinderella praised. "We offer this power to aid your battle." And with that, our Fira spell upgraded to Firaga.

"Sora, Shadow, your courage can bring back our worlds," Snow White told us.

"Once the darkness is gone, all should return to its original state," Aurora said firmly.

"Kairi will be back on the island?" Sora asked.

"Most certainly. And you both should be, too," Cinderella answered, to which I sighed with relief.

"We can't go home 'til we find Riku and the king," we said with conviction. And with that, the four of us boarded the Gummi Ship and left for the End of the World, the Final Dimension. It was the end of our journey, or at least it almost was. I was just relieved that I didn't have to leave my friends so suddenly, and that was what mattered.


	15. Chapter 15

A/N: Finally, the last chapter! I hope you guys liked this, because I've got more to come! Enjoy~

Disclaimer: I own nothing but Shadow and Kurai.

This Is It, The End Of The Road…But Not The End For Us! Let's Finish This!

We reached the Final Dimension with no difficulty, but when we landed, we were in for a shock. The place was in ruins, and chunks of earth hovered in the air as though gravity had no hold over them.

"Gawrsh, is that all that's left of the worlds taken by the Heartless?" Goofy wondered in shock.

"Those worlds will be restored if we beat Ansem, right?" Sora asked.

"You betcha," Donald confirmed.

"But if we do beat him and all these worlds become restored and disconnected, what's gonna happen to this place? And to us?" I asked validly.

"Well, uh…" Donald said, unsure.

"This is a Heartless world, so maybe it'll just disappear," Goofy finally answered.

"Huh?" Sora and Donald said, confused.

"But no worries. Even if this place goes poof, our hearts ain't goin' nowhere," Goofy added. "I'm sure we'll find our pals again. Yup, I just know that we will."

"Yeah, you're right," Sora and I agreed. We looked at the lucky charm Kairi had given us, and nodded. "We'll return this. We promise." We left to the next area, and looked about.

"I wonder where that Ansem feller went?" Goofy wondered aloud.

"Dive into the most dangerous place and we'll find him!" Donald said without hesitation. We went to the next area where we fought a series of Heartless, wave after wave, and they were from different worlds, ones that we found only there. Once they were gone, we reached an area where a giant beast from legend appeared: the Chernabog. We fought the Chernabog, but as we fought, I darted around to try and distract the beast, and it worked, maybe a bit too well. The monster swatted at me, and I was pinned to the ground, unable to move underneath his hand. I screeched in agony as the Chernabog began to crush me in its grip. Sora glided over to me and slashed with his Keyblade as I released a jet of white flame from my jaws at the beast's hand. It bellowed in pain as it released me, and I bolted to my feet, but winced in pain; the injuries still hurt, but I would have to tough it out. We finished off the Chernabog, and proceeded to the next area, the Final Rest Area. Once we had rested and I had tended to my wounds, Sora was about to open the door when we heard a voice.

"Huh?" Sora and I said.

"What's wrong?" Donald asked.

"Don't you hear something? There!" we said, and listened carefully.

"Careful. This is the last haven you'll find here," the mysterious voice said. It sounded so familiar, but strange at the same time. "Beyond, there is no light to protect you. But don't be afraid. Your hearts are the mightiest weapons of all. Remember, you are the ones who will open the door to the light."

"I don't hear anything," Donald said, looking confused.

"Strange…That voice was so familiar. Maybe it's just our imagination," we murmured.

"Maybe you'd better take a rest!" Donald advised. We shook our heads and proceeded to open the door to find Ansem. Once through, we found a place that looked like Destiny Islands. I yelped in shock.

"Is this…Is this our island?" Sora asked me, and I shook my head as though I didn't know because I didn't. We walked over to where the Secret Place used to be, but Ansem's voice stopped us.

"This world has been connected," he said, and objects on the island started to vanish.

"What was that?" Goofy wondered.

"Tied to the darkness…soon to be completely eclipsed. There is so very much to learn," Ansem's voice said, and the ocean turned purple. "You understand so little. A meaningless effort. One who knows nothing can understand nothing." The island changed and we saw Riku in his powerful form, with Kurai perched on his shoulder and darkness swirling in his armor. Our group edged closer to them. "Take a look at this tiny place. To the heart seeking freedom this island is a prison surrounded by water. And so this boy and dragon sought to escape from their prison. They sought a way to cross over into other worlds. And they opened their hearts to darkness." After he had spoken, Riku turned into Ansem, and Kurai vanished.

"Riku! Kurai!" Sora and I gasped.

"Don't bother. You're voices can no longer reach them where they are. Their hearts belong again to darkness," Ansem told us. "All worlds begin in darkness, and all so end. The heart is no different. Darkness sprouts within it, grows, consumes it. Such is its nature. In the end, every heart returns to the darkness whence it came." Ansem appeared behind us, hovering in midair. "You see, darkness is the heart's true essence."

"That's not true!" Sora and I protested. "The heart may be weak. And sometimes it may even give in. But we've learned that deep down, there's a light that never goes out!" Ansem rose a bit higher into the air.

"So, you have both come this far and still you understand nothing," Ansem scoffed. "Every light must fade, every heart return to darkness!" We fought Ansem, and swiftly defeated him the way he was. After the first fight, the big tree for the tree house shook apart, revealing Ansem where he was waiting for us. Sora and I ran in, but a barrier held Donald and Goofy back. Sora and I were on our own for that fight. We ended up against the same giant Heartless from both our dream and the one that we thought had destroyed the island, the Darkside. It was pretty simple to defeat this one; after all, we had fought it twice before. Once defeated, Ansem appeared, and Sora and I fought to the best of our ability, and defeated Ansem for the second time. After Ansem was beaten the second time, we were suddenly in dark emptiness, and Donald and Goofy were with us again.

"Wha…?" Sora gasped in bewilderment as I shrieked in horror.

"Behold the endless abyss! Within lies the heart of all worlds: Kingdom Hearts!" Ansem announced, and we looked to see a white door hovering behind Ansem. "Look as hard as you are able. You'll not find even the smallest glimmer of light. From those dark depths are all hearts born. Even yours." Out of nowhere, a gigantic thing appeared, called the World of Chaos, and Ansem was merged as a part of it. "Darkness conquers all worlds!" Suddenly, Donald and Goofy were sucked into a portal, and Sora and I began to fall. I flapped my wings with all my might, but to no avail. Before it was all over, the pair of us heard our dear friends' voices in our minds.

"Giving up already? Come on, Sora and Shadow. I thought you were bettered than that," Riku's and Kurai's voices said in our minds. We suddenly were able to fly again, my wings working again, and Sora able to fly thanks to some magic from our Tinker Bell summon. We flew up and saw Ansem merged with the World of Chaos, and we darted straight at him, using the best of our abilities and strength. I continued to use my light to my advantage, using it to blind Ansem when I got the chance and then fly away out of reach. After he was beaten for a third time, Ansem froze himself with the Heartless crest amulet around his neck, shielding himself from further harm. Out of nowhere, a portal appeared nearby, and Sora and I darted into it. Inside was the Room Core, and we quickly destroyed that and escaped before we were harmed. Then, we had to fight Artilleries, which were quite simple to beat. Once they were gone, another portal was revealed and we flew inside. Goofy was in there, trapped and unable to free himself. We rescued Goofy and destroyed the second Room Core. Once that was destroyed, we destroyed the Face to the World of Chaos. After it was beaten, another portal revealed itself. The three of us flew through it and found Donald, trapped as Goofy had been. We freed Donald and destroyed the third Room Core. Once the four of us had quickly regrouped, we darted through another portal and destroyed the Main Core. Once it was completely obliterated, Ansem revived, this time in agony. The four of us flew out and fought Ansem one last time, and used all of our strength, magic, and abilities to defeat him. I flew in a slashed my claws across Ansem's face as Sora struck him with the Keyblade. Donald used his magic and stunned Ansem, while Goofy used his shield to stun Ansem even more. Once the World of Chaos was gone, Ansem was still alive, but just barely.

"It is futile. The Keyblade and light alone cannot seal the door to darkness," Ansem told us, and turned to Kingdom Hearts. "Kingdom Hearts! Fill me with the power of darkness…" Kingdom Hearts' doors opened, and dark smoke poured out. "Supreme darkness…"

"You're wrong," Sora and I yelled to him. "We know now, without a doubt. Kingdom Hearts…is light!" Once we said that, light appeared from Kingdom Hearts, illuminating Ansem.

"Lights? But why…?" I heard Ansem wonder as he vanished, this time for good. We flew over to Kingdom Hearts' doors and began to try and shove it closed.

"Come on!" the pair of us ordered our friends, and the four of us began to push. Suddenly, Goofy stopped and stared.

"Stop staring and keep pushing!" Donald snapped at him, but then he stopped and stared as well at the hoards of Heartless flooding towards the door.

"The Heartless?!" the two of them gasped in horror.

"Hurry!" Donald yelled.

"We can't…" Sora and I growled through our teeth, but then we saw Riku and Kurai.

"Don't give up!" they yelled to us, and appeared on the other side of the doors. "Come on, Sora and Shadow! Together, we can do it!"

"Okay!" we agreed, and Riku and Kurai tried on their end to pull the doors shut while the four of us tried to shove the doors closed, and we tried even harder. But the Heartless continued to practically stampede closer to us.

"It's hopeless!" Donald wailed. Suddenly, the Heartless were eliminated, one by one. We saw a bright light slicing through the Heartless, and then stop moving once they were gone.

"Your Majesty!" Donald and Goofy cried out.

"Now, Sora and Shadow! Let's close this door for good!" Mickey told Sora and me and he brandished his own Keyblade.

"Close it, quick!" Donald ordered the two of us.

"But…" we mumbled, hesitant to seal two of our best friends inside a realm of darkness.

"Don't worry. There will always be a door to the light," Mickey assured us.

"Sora, you can trust King Mickey," Goofy told us.

"Now! They're coming!" Riku and Kurai ordered.

"Donald, Goofy, thank you," Mickey told his friends, and we began to lock the door.

Right before the door closed, Riku and Kurai told us, "Take care of her." We nodded, and the door was sealed as Sora and I used the Keyblade and my light to lock our side, and King Mickey used his Keyblade to lock the other side. Suddenly, Sora and I saw Kairi, who was about to go back to our world. Sora and I ran to her, and Donald almost followed, but Goofy stopped him. We caught Kairi right before she fell as she tried to reach out for us.

"Kairi!" we cried out.

"Sora! Shadow!" she cried. The area started to shake and separate as Kairi started to be pulled away from us.

"Kairi. Remember what you said before? We're always with you, too. We'll come back to you. We promise!" we promised her.

"I know you will!" she said trustingly. Sora was unable to hold on to Kairi's hand any longer, and they were forced to let go. Once her hand was freed, Kairi was taken back to Destiny Islands, where we would eventually be back to, with Riku and Kurai, someday. We knew that day would come, no matter how long it took. Someday…


End file.
